Kishoubu
by Patche
Summary: After losing his wife and trying to deal with raising a five year old girl by himself, Inuyasha feels completely trapped. However, after a chance meeting with a mysterious woman, he learns plenty of lessons in parenting, life, and importantly; love. InuKa
1. The Beginning

Age of Innocence Kishoubu

**By: **Patche

**Disclaimer:** Do not own Inuyasha… only this story.

**The Beginning**  
--

"_The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone." _

_-George Elliot_

"Kagome Higurashi was as average as life could have made her. She was twenty-three, had a good job, a healthy relationship with her fiancée, and she got along perfectly with her mother.

She was a good girl. She'd never cuss out loud. She never wore any revealing clothes. She always greeted some one with a big smile on her face and did her utmost to help each person she came in contact with have a wonderful day.

She was a real-life angel… almost.

The only difference between angels and Kagome is that Kagome would hurt. Whether it was for herself or those around her, Kagome knew what it was like to cry. Angels only feel empathy for others. What Kagome felt, was pure sympathy for those less fortunate than her.

She would be only the grandest addition to the angels already harboring on the shores of Heaven.

And when she died, the sun was shining its warm happy shine. There was a light breeze and all the birds were singing.

I believe this was Heaven's way of welcoming their newest angel."

Mrs. Higurashi reached up and wiped the tear forming in the corner of her eye as she made her way from the podium.

Once she had been seated, she watched as her daughter's fiancée, Houjo Akitoki, made his way up to share a few words.

He leaned into the microphone and only sighed loudly. Mrs. Higurashi noticed the crumpled piece of paper in his hand begin to shake.

His voice shook as he breathed into the microphone again.

"Ka…Kagome was…" It was that phrase that broke his heart again and again. She _was_ and is no more. He bit his lip nervously, looking around at all the students from their college wiping their eyes.

He couldn't do it. He absolutely could not stand before this crowd of people who loved her and tell them about her…

If he did, that would mean she was gone forever.

And no matter what laws of science state, he couldn't bare to believe that.

"My… my best…" His voice croaked and he felt the hoard of tears building up in the backs of his eyes. "My… my best friend…" His lip began to tremble as he spoke more. "I knew… exactly what I was doing when I asked her to marry me…"

He swallowed the lump in his throat, which only triggered the tears to finally escape his threshold and run down his cheeks

"I love her so much…" He cried, leaving the podium figuring he had no real words to say. Kagome deserved so much more than words at her funeral. There weren't any that could describe how he felt.

As they buried the casket, all the teary-eyed mourners present, the raincloud blocking the sun seemed to disappear. Both Houjo and Mrs. Higurashi could feel its beams on their skin.

It was her, saying 'please don't cry anymore.' They could just feel it.

--

Ten Years Later

"Oh yes! Yes Gouro!"

Her moans could be heard all throughout the apartment. Those sinful sounds disrupting the airwaves. But what could she help it?

It was only one of the greatest orgasms she'd ever felt and it was probably from the equivalent of a complete stranger.

She'd met Gouro in some sleazy bar downtown and invited him back to her place while her 'husband' was away at work.

Kikyou smirked and rolled off him, flipping her ebony hair from her pale shoulders and looking at him with as much love and adoration as one can put into a glance at a stranger.

"That was… amazing…" He mumbled, pulling a cigarette out of his pants pocket and lighting it up in her room.

Across the room, sitting in a corner, was her one-month-old daughter, sound asleep in her crib made of oak. It was a crib her father built in the midst of his excitement to have a daughter.

Kikyou paid it no more mind than she did the baby cradled inside.

Her daughter, Mayu, was the one reason behind her desire to screw meaningless strangers in the middle of the afternoon. Her daughter's need for constant food and diapers and all other random baby necessities was what kept Inuyasha at work all day, leaving Kikyou all to her lonely, twenty-year-old self.

"You think you're up for another one?" She felt Gouro's raspy whisper against her ear and snickered to herself.

"I believe I am…" She mumbled, running her hand down his chest.

But just in the midst of it all, Mayu had woken up. The screams of a one-month child are not to be underestimated by any means. The alarm ringing from her voice box instantly threw the mood for Gouro.

"I can't do this with some stupid kid ruining the mood… I'm out of here…" He mumbled, standing up, baring his whole self.

Kikyou stirred, pulling the sheets up over her body. "Oh, come on! She'll fall back asleep after a little bit. I'll just go give her some Nyquil." She muttered.

However, when Kikyou noticed that Mayu had stopped screaming and that Gouro stood frozen in his lack-of-wardrobe she knew it was all too late.

Her dark brown eyes slowly met with the amber ones she was supposed to be in love with.

There, standing in the doorway, was her husband-thing. At a mere eighteen-years-old, he didn't look like much.

Just some dumb high school kid who got a little messed up one night and slept with a complete whore.

Inuyasha didn't appear to be angry… more upset and horribly shocked.

His white hair flipped around as he hurriedly moved towards Kikyou's clothing on the floor. Gouro still hadn't moved.

He sneered at the discarded garments and tossed them lazily at Kikyou and her secret lover.

"Get dressed and get the fuck out of my house…" He said, through clenched teeth.

Gouro wasted no time in executing Inuyasha's demands. Kikyou, however, decided to toy with him and try to weasel her way out of this as she often did.

However, as she leaned up to him, her alcohol-stained breath beating against his cheek, he felt nothing but a wave of disgust for her.

"Go! Kikyou!" He shouted to her. The loud noise assaulted Mayu's ears causing another storm of cries to erupt from the baby's throat.

She simply sneered at him. "I've got no where to go, jackass!" She said, pulling her top over her naked body.

"Do I look like I give a fuck, Kikyou?" Inuyasha walked over to the baby in the crib. "I've obviously got bigger things on my hands… go live with your fuck-buddy." He murmured, taking Mayu to the kitchen to fetch her a bottle.

Kikyou scoffed. "Well fine! Enjoy your fucking life with that stupid brat! I hope you like watching me leave your life forever, dick hole!" She shouted.

Inuyasha groaned, turning his attention to Mayu in the high chair.

"Don't listen to her, honey… you're perfect. Not a brat at all, okay?" He said, pinching her nose.

Mayu giggled and wrapped her tiny hand around his clawed finger.

Inuyasha smiled and kissed her forehead.

He turned to see Kikyou standing there.

"So, this is it?" She asked.

Inuyasha shrugged, twitching his ear.

Kikyou just scoffed and shook her head angrily, walking out of the apartment.

He sighed, and grabbed Mayu from her high chair, sitting down on the couch with her in his arms. In that very moment, he felt the rest of his life all around him.

She was the only thing he needed.

He smiled sadly at her huge amber eyes and black scruff on the top of her head.

She hadn't gotten his ears, luckily. He knew she'd get picked on for those. She only had the very same eyes as he did.

He leaned his head back, letting the waves of sleep rescue him from this nightmare he'd found himself in.

--

A/N

So, I hope everyone likes it so far! I'm so excited to write it… I feel so bad for Inuyasha, though. It's sad.

And Kagome will be coming in soon, I promise.

Also, about the rating. If you haven't already noticed, it is not a Teen friendly story as I often write. I just can't make it all teeny boppy without completely destroying Kikyou's character… Which, by the way, this is the only story I will ever make her so screwed up in. So, Kikyou haters will… love this.

Please review. I love to hear what my readers think.

Love always

Patche


	2. Together Forever

Age of Innocence Kishoubu

**By: **Patche

**Disclaimer:** Do not own Inuyasha… only this story.

**Together Forever**  
--

Five Years Later

Mayu Taisho woke up on a regular Saturday morning. She turned on her side in her pink polka dot bed to glance at her Disney Princess clock, complete with the purpled and pinks of the Disney spectrum.

6:15

'I could give him another ten minutes…' She thought to herself as her stomach grumbled loudly, reminding her that perhaps ten minutes would be too long.

Grimacing, Mayu stood up from the bed, letting her nightgown fit for a five-year-old flow down to her ankles.

Her stomach growled again.

"Stop!" She shouted, not needing a reminder of how incredibly hungry she was. "We're giving him some time to wake up…"

She stopped to stare at her reflection in the mirror. Her amber eyes stared at the girl before her. Her hair was short, coming all the way down to her chin and her skin was almost as tan as her father's but still a tiny bit paler.

She felt the only thing that resembled her mother was her black hair and pointy perky-up nose. Everything else, including her fiery attitude, was a gift from her father.

She turned around to look at the clock again.

6:18

"Guh! Long enough!" She said aloud, leaving her room to wake up her father.

Mayu carefully opened his door, trying her best to avoid any squeaking that could wake him.

"Daddy?" She asked in a whisper. The lump on the bed merely grumbled in response.

Mayu huffed and walked up to the side of the bed, shaking her father's shoulders.

"Daddy!" She whispered a little louder. "Daddy, I'm hungry…" Mayu whined, shaking him more.

She watched as he opened an eye.

"Mayu… it's 6 in the morning…" Inuyasha grumbled, rolling over. "Go to sleep."

Mayu slouched down. "But I can't, Daddy… I'm hungry!"

Inuyasha groaned, sitting up in his bed. He gazed tiredly to the clock on his nightstand.

"Nothing's open at six…" He turned to face her, still looking as tired as he did before.

"That little pancake place down the road is…" Mayu said smiling.

Inuyasha grumbled a little, standing up on the ground as he stretched his back out, yawning loudly and obnoxiously.

Mayu giggled at the sound he made.

He turned and gave her a once-over. "You gonna go change?" He asked her, nonchalantly.

Mayu smiled and nodded, running up to hug his legs.

Inuyasha just smirked and patted her back with his hand.

--

Kagome sighed, sitting on her favorite perch high up above the earth. A little cloud. _Her_ little cloud. She watched as the sun rose up from the East and all the people across Japan began their day-to-day activities.

A nostalgic look remained plastered to her face. She missed it, living, loving, feeling needed and wanted.

She smiled to herself, remembering what her life had been like. She made the most of it and never regretted what she didn't do. It was just that… she wanted more.

"Kagome!"

Kagome whipped her head around, her ebony locks whirling around with her head. Her hazel eyes met with bright green.

"Ayame-san?" She asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Mayu's been up for an hour. We've been looking all over for you!" She shouted. Kagome's eyes shot open.

She was late for work.

Kagome had become a guardian angel. It was her job to be there when Mayu woke up and once she had fallen asleep, Kagome would take her breaks. She had to look out for Mayu, watch her like a hawk would.

She had to care for her… from far beyond her sight.

Kagome darted up off her cloud and walked into her 'office' in the clouds.

"It's not even that early…" She muttered, turning on her TV to watch Mayu's day unfold.

Sure enough, the first image to pop on the screen was Inuyasha smiling warmly at his daughter as they made their way into a pancake shop.

It was their favorite shop. Mayu and Inuyasha both knew the waitresses all by name. 'The usual' always sufficed as their order for the morning.

He had been taking her there ever since she was old enough to chew a pancake.

Kagome sighed, watching him sit down at their booth and look out the window while Mayu read over the menu.

She had loved him so…

Of course, it was one of those romances like falling in love with a celebrity. Her entire after-life had revolved around him and Mayu. And everyday, she always felt herself wishing she were right there to push Mayu on the swing and to kiss Inuyasha goodnight.

But she wasn't. It was the most improbable of romances.

"Would you stop gooning after my son? You're making me feel a little uncomfortable."

Kagome smiled and turned her head to see an older woman with long black hair and bight brown eyes.

"Izayoi-san…" Kagome smiled. "Good morning."

Izayoi smiled back and sat down beside Kagome.

"So, what do we have here?" She asked, gesturing to her son and granddaughter.

"Well, they are at a pancake shop for breakfast." Kagome said, smiling nervously. "I got here a little late…" She said grimacing.

Izayoi smiled and patted Kagome's back. "You know, that little girl Inuyasha ran off with… I think you would have been a much finer choice…"

Kagome cocked her head to the side. "What makes you say that?" She asked.

"Well just look at you." Izayoi gestured to her. "You look at him and Mayu like they are the center of your world…"

"Well, they kind of are. I'm her guardian angel. I can't help but love her…" Kagome shrugged, glancing back at the screen. Mayu and Inuyasha were both drinking glasses of milk and smiling at each other.

"But you don't have to love him." Izayoi said, standing to leave.

Kagome watched her go out of the corner of her eye.

She was right. Kagome didn't have to have any feelings at all for Inuyasha. She didn't really know how they ever developed. It started out with her just feeling so bad for him once Kikyou left. But, afterward, she couldn't help but just fantasize about being beside him all the time.

Kagome watched Mayu dig through the menu, pointing to different pictures. The waitress stood there smiling at the two.

"Daddy, what are these?" She asked, pointing to pancakes with blue dots inside of them.

"Those are blueberry pancakes." He said, looking over her menu with her.

"Can I get those, then?" Mayu perked her head up and smiled.

"Mayu, those are way too many pancakes for you. Look at you, you're so tiny. These are huge!" Inuyasha said, using his hands to exaggerate just how big the pancakes were.

Mayu giggled.

"We can just make her a small order." The waitress offered. "Half price." She said winking at Inuyasha.

He smirked and handed the menus to the waitress.

"Thank you!" Mayu shouted to her as she walked away.

"Hey Mayu…"

Mayu turned to face Inuyasha.

"I think you've got a bee on your nose." He said smiling.

"No, no!" Mayu shouted, trying to get out of his grasp. She failed, however, and Inuyasha pinched her nose between his two fingers making an obnoxious buzzing noise as she giggled away.

"Mayu, be quiet… the whole restaurant is staring." He said in a whisper as the two looked around at the completely empty restaurant.

Mayu smiled. "No it isn't!" She placed her hands on her hips.

"Well, that waitress over there is…" He said, craning his neck to peer at their waitress.

She blushed lightly and waved back to him.

"Daddy, stop it… you're making me feel stupid."

Inuyasha smirked and turned back to her. "Well now you know how I feel every time I go in public with you."

"Hey!" Mayu shouted, grabbing her fork, pretending to threaten him.

--

That night, as Mayu climbed into bed, Inuyasha tucked her in and kissed her, giving her the usual 'tuck in routine.'

"Goodnight, Mayu…" He said.

"Hey, Daddy…" She asked, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Hmm?" He asked.

"What if Mommy comes back?"

This struck a sensitive chord in Inuyasha's heart. Kikyou was a sensitive topic for him. He knew she was never coming back. Hell, he didn't even know if she was still alive.

"What if she does?" He asked.

"Well, do you think she'd love me?" She asked. The sadness in her eyes was heart wrenching. Inuyasha knew she needed a mom, he just couldn't find her.

"Of course. There's no way anyone couldn't love you." He said smiling.

"Well what if she takes me away from you?" Mayu asked.

Inuyasha shook his head. "I wouldn't let her. You're my whole world, Mayu. We'll be together forever, alright?" He said, giving her one last peck on the forehead before turning out her light and heading into his own room.

Mayu glanced out her window at a star shining brightly in the distance. She remembered in Pinocchio how once he wished on a star his dream came true.

"Dear whoever is listening, I just want a mommy… some one who will love me and my daddy…"

She sighed and rolled over onto her side.

Maybe her wish would come true, too.

--

A/N

If I mess up at all with her five year old character, let me just say I haven't bee five years old for a while… but I'm trying to put myself there. Haha. Anyway, thank you everyone for all the reviews. So many. I was so inspired to write this chapter.

Please review. I love to hear what my readers think.

Love always

Patche


	3. Fallen Angel

Age of Innocence Kishoubu

**By: **Patche

**Disclaimer:** Do not own Inuyasha… only this story.

**Fallen Angel**  
--

"So, do you think you're ready Kira?"

Kagome sighed, perched on her usual cloud overlooking the world when she heard her 'boss' and another angel conversing. Though the conversation normally wouldn't have mattered much since Kagome just wasn't the eavesdropping type, she heard them mention familiar names and just couldn't stay out of it anymore.

"Just remember to be nice to Inuyasha. He has a monster temper."

"I know, sempai. Thank you."

Kagome cocked her head to the side and stalked quietly over to where they were speaking.

She saw it. Kira had been completely dressed up in a parachute and human clothes. Was she going to go down to earth?

Kagome felt her heart stop.

She was going to fulfill Mayu's wish.

"Sempai, I'd like to go…" She said softly, walking up to the two. Her boss, who went by the name of Hiro, turned to face her with a sharp look on his face.

"What, Kagome?" He asked.

Kagome walked closer, pointing to Kira as a reference. "I'd like to be Mayu's mother. I think it'd be much easier because I'm already familiar with her. I know everything a mom would know about Mayu…"

Hiro and Kira looked at each other and started laughing.

"But, Kagome… you're her guardian angel. If you're gone, who's going to guard over her?" Kira asked.

"I would be honored to look after Mayu in Kagome's place."

Kagome turned to see Izayoi standing behind her. She felt a smile spread across her face.

"I think she would be the only suitable one to fill those shoes."

The thing about Izayoi was that she was a sweet and generous person and always thought of others. However, she did also stand up for those she loved… quite fiercely.

Kagome had often seen this side of Inuyasha before whenever he'd feel some need to defend Mayu.

She admired Izayoi above anyone she'd met in her own life and in her afterlife.

It was remarkable how they'd met. Izayoi was not a guardian angel anymore. The child she had to look after had died of Leukemia and, thus, she was no longer his guardian. However, she still hung around with them. The guardian angels were those closest to the souls on earth.

Every angel wanted to be one. It wasn't the highest ranking or anything like that. It was just a great privilege to look after another being.

Hiro scoffed. "Izayoi, you're retired… you're a failure to the guardian angel system."

Kira gasped and turned to see Izayoi's reaction. She blinked once and looked down, obviously feeling defeated, before balling her hands into fists and walking away.

Kagome glared at Hiro as he congratulated himself on defeating her.

Without thinking, Kagome charged into him, knocking him off his feet.

However, Hiro managed to push Kagome off him using his feet and swung her over him and off the cloud they were all standing on.

"Kagome!" Izayoi and Kira shouted, but it was too late.

Kagome was already long gone.

--

It was almost noon. Inuyasha had just dropped Mayu off at his closest friends' house. She considered them her aunt and uncle. Inuyasha was very please they weren't, though. His best friend, Miroku, he'd met just as he was graduating from high school. Miroku was the doctor who told him and Kikyou that she was pregnant.

From there, Inuyasha would visit Miroku's wife, Sango, for Mayu's checkups. From there, they'd all just become a little group of friends. Inuyasha, of course, was quite the third wheel… but they all managed.

In a sense, Miroku and Sango were like a second pair of parents helping to raise Mayu since she didn't really have a pair to begin with.

It was just him. And as far as Mayu's memory serves… it had always been just him.

Inuyasha stopped on his walk past a grassy, nature park. He knew this park. It was the place of Mayu's conception. He and Kikyou had come here after a party he had attended with one of his friends.

She was the older sister of the girl hosting the party. Though there wasn't much attraction at first, once he had a few beers in him, Kikyou was a goddess.

After the party ended and Kaede's house was trashed, Kikyou couldn't let the night go to waste and brought him out here… mumbling random nonsense about the constellations in the sky and what shapes they could make out in the sky.

Inuyasha grumbled, shaking the memory from his head.

It had been well over five years ago. On top of that, there was nothing about Kikyou he missed. The way she always smelled like a strip club or the sleazy comments she'd throw out all the time.

She was a mistake. That was all Inuyasha could ever regard her as. Unfortunately, she was the mother of his child. Obviously one with little devotion to that child.

He glanced up in the blue sky and found… something peculiar.

Sure people always see planes and birds in the sky, but this was not flying horizontally… nor was it taking off…

This, whatever it was, was falling.

And it was aimed right for where he was standing.

His ears twitched as he heard a slight scream coming from whatever was falling. It was a girl… falling from the sky.

But just as Inuyasha began to search for something a girl could fall out of, he heard a crash from right behind him.

Gasping, Inuyasha turned around to find a girl, sitting up with her legs sprawled out beneath her, rubbing her head.

She was alive after that fall? He had to have at least seen her from about 30,000 feet up in the air. How in the name of everything that is rational could she have been alive?

He glanced at her, walking closer very slowly.

Her black, wavy hair cascaded down her pale shoulders. It was almost long enough to cover her… her breasts?

Inuyasha noticed, during his glance-over, she was completely naked.

He could feel his cheeks heat up as he stared at her, not really aware of the fact that he was staring at a random, girl-who-fell-out-of-the-sky's boobs.

"Umm…" He heard her say, breaking his gaze. He glanced up to her face, looking into her deep hazel eyes.

He watched a light color of pink show through her cheeks as her mouth turned up into a grin.

"Inuyasha…" She breathed out.

Inuyasha stumbled backwards. "…Who the fuck are you?!" He demanded.

The girl smiled, sitting up higher. "I'm Kagome Higurashi! I'm Mayu's guardian angel…"

"Mayu?" He asked. "How the hell do you know her?!" He felt himself getting defensive. Was this some psychopathic lesbian pedophile that could survive a 30,000-foot drop from the sky?

Inuyasha groaned and held his head. "I'm not falling for this…" He muttered. This had to be some stupid little trick. It was either Miroku or Kikyou… or some one with an airplane to drop her out of.

Without a word, Inuyasha stood up and began to walk away from the scene entirely.

"Wait!" He heard Kagome shout. However, he ignored the shout and continued walking.

"No please!" She had stood up and ran after him, latching onto his sleeve. "Inuyasha, please… you can't leave me here!"

"How do you know my name, Kagome?" He asked sharply hoping this would all just be a joke and Miroku and Sango would pop out of a bush yelling 'surprise' for no real reason.

"I told you. I'm Mayu's guardian angel…"

Inuyasha just laughed. "Okay… first of all, there's no such thing as _angels_. Secondly, I'm a little concerned as to how you know both my daughter's names and mine. Are you stalking us? You a friend of Kikyou's or something? Are you trying to sneak her back into my life?" He asked, feeling his skepticism rise.

Kagome cocked her head to the side. "No… not at all. I hate Kikyou."

"But you know her…" He muttered, continuing his walk.

"Well of course I do… she broke your heart…" Inuyasha stopped. "I saw the whole thing… I saw everything Mayu saw."

Kagome took in a breath. "I saw the look on your face. You didn't even know what to make of the situation. Your girlfriend sleeping with a strange man while your daughter was screaming at the top of her lungs."

"And how did I look?" Inuyasha asked coldly.

"Horrified." He quirked an eyebrow thinking maybe this wasn't a trick…

"You looked like you couldn't believe you'd leave your daughter and your heart in that woman's hands…"

He could feel a debate starting inside his head. One option was stay and listen to the naked girl who just fell out of the sky and seems to know the exact situation you and your daughter are in. The other, was get the fuck away and don't ever look back.

Inuyasha spun around to look at her. She didn't look anymore human than she did before.

"Please… I need your help. You're the only person I know." Kagome pleaded.

"But I don't know you!" He shouted.

"You're not supposed to…" Kagome mumbled.

He growled inwardly. "What do you want _me_ to do?"

Kagome sighed, clasping her hands together. "I need to get back… to Heaven. You see, there was this wish made last night by Mayu and this other girl was supposed to come down and make you fall in love with her and become Mayu's mother, but I kind of lunged towards my boss and he pushed me off my cloud and… now here I am…" Kagome said, shrugging her shoulders.

"You need to get home?" Inuyasha asked in disbelief. "Go lay down in the street…"

Kagome sighed, rolling her eyes. "I just fell from the highest altitude possible. I think if dying were the solution, I wouldn't be in this dilemma."

"Fine…" Inuyasha muttered, taking off his hoodie. "I'll see what I can do. But for now, I don't want my daughter being exposed to this… so cover yourself up." He threw the hoodie at Kagome and walked off.

She just stood there, holding it for a minute. This was all just too much to take in. She was here… with Inuyasha. And even though he wasn't the nicest man she'd ever met…

It felt so perfect.

"Are ya coming?!" He shouted rudely to Kagome.

She looked up at him and nodded. "Oh!" She shouted, throwing the hoodie on over herself and running after him.

--

"So, what do you want to do today, Mayu?" Sango asked cheerfully, her engorged belly hanging out over her pants.

Mayu smiled and placed her palm up to the tummy. She felt a light kick and giggled, pulling her hand away. Sango smiled, genuinely.

"In just a few more months, Mayu, you'll have a baby cousin. How exciting, huh?" She asked, ruffling Mayu's hair.

"It is very exciting. I'll teach her everything I know." Mayu pointed to her head.

"Well, then she'll be a smart little girl, huh?" Sango asked. She smiled and placed both her hands on her tummy, looking down lovingly at the bulge. "I can't wait…"

"You said the stork will drop her off in a few months? Why didn't you just ask him to bring your baby earlier?" Mayu asked cocking her head to the side.

"Well, because she's inside my tummy right now, Mayu. Right now she's growing up. As soon as she's grown up enough to live, I'll go into labor." Sango said, smiling to the little girl. She often times prided herself on her knowledge of childbirth. She and her husband were both the most respected gynecologists in the area.

"Labor?" Mayu asked.

"You're not teaching her about the bird and the bees, are you Sango? I don't think Inuyasha would be too fond of that." Miroku said, announcing himself into the room.

Sango covered her face with her palm and rolled her eyes.

Mayu simply cocked her head to the side. "Birds and the bees?"

Sango shook her head, shooting a death glare to her husband.

Miroku chuckled nervously, his blue eyes shifting across the room.

"Miroku, will you just…" Sango trailed off, throwing her hands up in the air in defeat. "Never mind, alright? I just pray our daughter doesn't think the way you do…"

Mayu looked at her, still curious about what was wrong with birds and bees.

Just as Sango was about to go onto another rant, the front door swung open.

"Daddy!" Mayu shouted, smiling at the intrusion. Sango and Miroku also turned to notice he was standing there at the door.

"Well, it's about time… Mayu was being such a little pain in the arse…" Miroku said, smiling.

"Daddy!" Mayu shouted, jumping up off the couch to hug him. But just as she reached him, she saw a woman pop out from behind him.

Sango, Miroku, and Mayu all gasped. She was tall, pale, and naked save for the jacket Inuyasha had lent her.

"Oh, ho ho…" Miroku laughed, plopping himself down on the couch.

"Mayu!" The woman shouted, looking her over.

Mayu looked at Inuyasha curiously.

"Guys… this is Kagome." He paused for a minute. "She kind of just fell out of the sky, and I thought since you two have such amazing doctoral skills, you could look her over… and prove to me that people can't fall out of the sky completely unharmed."

Sango looked at Miroku before turning back to Inuyasha with a quirked eyebrow.

"She fell out of… the sky?" She asked.

He sighed and nodded. "On top of that, she knows my name… Mayu's name… and everything that Mayu knows." He grumbled, rolling his eyes and sitting down beside Miroku.

Mayu smiled at Kagome, tugging on her arm. "I know you…" She whispered. "I prayed for you to come…"

Kagome looked down at Mayu, smiling. "I know. I heard you."

"Well, what do you want us to do?" Miroku asked. "I mean… she fell out of the sky." He said laughing. "I think you just need to see a psychiatrist, Inuyasha."

Sango slapped him. "Inuyasha…" She started. "Why don't you take Mayu home and we'll give Kagome the money and food she needs for the night. We'll even find someone who she'd know. A relative she could stay with."

"You guys would do that?" He asked, smiling.

Sango nodded. "Yea… don't worry about a thing. Just take Mayu home, alright?"

Inuyasha shrugged and stood up, grabbing Mayu's hand on his way out the door.

She probably was just some loony hooker. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night anyway. That park was known to have nothing but homeless people living in it.

"Wait, daddy!" Mayu shouted as he pulled her away from Kagome.

"Where are you going, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.

"Home!" He shouted. "And don't follow us!"

Kagome watched sadly as her one hope to getting back to Heaven walked away.

She turned to face Sango and Miroku both gawking at her.

"Where'd you say you were from?" They asked.

--

A/N

It figured Miroku would be a gynecologist, huh? I love my little sense of humor. Aww and Kagome was all flustered by the Inu-squish. I also like Inuyasha's lack of a backbone in this chapter… yeesh.

Please review. I love to hear what my readers think.

Love always

Patche


	4. Life and Death

Age of Innocence Kishoubu

**By: **Patche

**Disclaimer:** Do not own Inuyasha… only this story.

**Life and Death**  
--

Sango paced back and forth around the room as Miroku and Kagome just sat on the couch, watching.

"So, how do we prove that you are or are not an angel?" Miroku asked, looking over at Kagome.

Kagome began to shrug as Sango spoke up.

"Miroku… there is no way she could be an 'angel'. They aren't tangible. And she looks pretty touchable…"

Miroku smirked as she said that.

"Well… I do have something that could prove I died…" Kagome said.

Miroku snapped his finger. "That's right. We can look up an obituary on the internet!"

"The what?" Kagome asked, cocking her head to the side. Miroku nodded and glanced over at her.

"I guess however long ago you died, the Internet didn't exist. It's this big collection of websites packed full of information on pretty much anything you want to look up." He used his hands to try and explain.

Kagome nodded, pretending she understood… which she didn't.

"How, exactly, did you die?" Miroku asked, maintaining a serious expression that completely baffled Sango.

"I don't really know." Kagome said shrugging. "One minute I was alive… that's all I can remember…"

He seemed to really believe in this little trick "Kagome" was pulling over them.

She wouldn't be fooled, however, she thought typing in the name and getting thousands of pages as a result.

She moved the cursor over to a page titled, "The Life and Death of Kagome Higurashi".

Upon opening, Sango felt her heart drop to the bottom of her stomach.

"Miroku! Come here!" She shouted.

--

"Daddy!" Mayu whined on their way into the car. "Please… we really need to let her stay with us!"

Inuyasha growled and turned to her. "Mayu, she could be a completely crazy lady who just wants to slice you up and eat you!"

"No… she isn't! I swear!" Mayu shouted.

"And how do you know, Mayu?" Inuyasha asked matter-of-factly.

"Because… I could just feel it…" Mayu said, pointing to her heart. "I don't know… I could just tell she was a good person…"

Inuyasha shook his head and pulled Mayu into his bright red truck. "I'm sorry, Mayu. I'm just not up for trusting a five-year-old's intuition…"

"I'm almost six!" Mayu shouted after getting her seatbelt on.

"Well that changes everything…" Inuyasha mumbled, starting his truck and pulling out of the parking lot.

"Daddy… please…" Mayu begged once more.

Inuyasha just shook his head and drove off away from the strange girl…

--

"So, you were murdered?" Miroku asked Kagome who sat on the couch stunned by the information the website seemed to hold.

It included everything about her life… the story of her parents' divorce… her brother… even her engagement to Houjo.

"I… I guess…" She said, bringing a hand up to clutch her chest. "I really had no idea…"

Sango exhaled loudly and ran a hand through her long, brown hair. "I thought the name sounded familiar…"

Kagome glanced over to her. "Why?"

"The murder of Kagome Higurashi was only the most famous murder in all of history. You were the last one of a horrible serial killer's killings. The one that got him turned in. But, it was also the most gruesome murder of all time…" Sango said, feeling a little proud of herself for knowing so much about the Kagome Higurashi murder.

"Maybe, we shouldn't tell her all about it…" Miroku said, reminding Sango that Kagome was in the room.

"Well…" Sango started. "Though the picture does look like you and you claim to have the same name as Kagome Higurashi… there is one thing you have to have in order to be Kagome Higurashi… and there's no way you could have duplicated this… I'm sure…"

Sango walked over to the girl on the couch and lifted her jacket in the back.

There, she found a scar the size of her back. It was nothing but scribbles that had been cut deep beneath the skin. However, those scribbles were the trademark of all the murders. It was his signature and he knew how to duplicate them each time.

Sango shook her head. "You… really are Kagome Higurashi…" She said breathlessly.

"So, how do you know of Inuyasha and Mayu?" Miroku asked.

Kagome nodded, fixing her jacket. "I am Mayu's guardian angel…"

"Then what are you doing here?" Sango asked, interrupting Kagome.

"Well, last night, Mayu wished for a mom… and we were going to send down an angel to be her mom. However, I really really wanted to go and somehow I fell and she didn't… and I landed in a park. I'm not sure why or how. I wasn't supposed to fall."

"Why would you want to be Mayu's mother?" Miroku asked, sitting beside Kagome.

Kagome looked down blushing as she twiddled her thumbs.

"Well… I… I dunno…" She shrugged. "I just love Mayu and I'd like to be… her mom…" Sango quirked an eyebrow.

"Can I talk to you, Miroku?" Sango asked, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the living room.

"Oww!" Miroku shouted until they reached the kitchen.

"I don't know if I can trust this…" Sango whispered, looking around to make sure Kagome hadn't followed them in there.

"Why not? She has the same markings… the picture on the website looks identical to her…"

Sango sighed. "Because… this kind of stuff just doesn't happen. Angels don't fall from the sky… hell, they aren't even real!"

Miroku scratched his chin. "Well… you know, I think you're just being a little extra skeptical because of…" He trailed off, rubbing her belly. "But you know, sometimes these things do just happen. They're called miracles. They can be as abstract as an angel falling out of the sky… or as rational as a woman getting pregnant."

Sango sighed as Miroku ran a hand through her hair.

"I just don't want anything to happen to Inuyasha and Mayu…"

Miroku laughed. "Inuyasha's a big boy… I'm sure he could handle something like this…" Miroku smiled and placed both his hands on her cheeks, pushing them together. "Just stop worrying or else the baby will be born with acid reflux."

Sango laughed and shook her head. "Okay… fine…"

--

"Daddy! Your phone's ringing!" Mayu shouted upon hearing the light buzzing of his phone.

Inuyasha stormed out of his bedroom and into the living room where his daughter was sitting watching cartoons.

"Yea?" He asked, plugging his other ear to shield himself from the noise of the TV.

"What? Ugh, fine!" He shouted hanging up the phone.

"Come on, Mayu…" He called, stashing his phone in his back pocket.

"What?" She asked glaring at him. Since the previous events of the day, Mayu was not Inuyasha's biggest fan at the moment.

"We're going to see Auntie Sango and Uncle Miroku…" Inuyasha said sarcastically.

Mayu's eyes lit up. "We're getting Kagome back?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "I highly doubt it. I don't know what she wants with us… she just told me to come over there."

Mayu had already put her jacket on and stood beside Inuyasha, holding his hand.

"Alrighty… let's go."

--

"Well, he's coming over to get you." Sango said, walking over to the girl who hadn't left their couch.

"Really?" Kagome asked, smiling.

"Yea… but umm maybe we should get her some clothes… Sango?"

Sango nodded and darted off to the bedroom just as the doorbell rang.

"Well that must be him…" Miroku said smiling. Kagome just looked down, blushing. She still couldn't get over it. Here she was… about to spend the rest of her time as a human with her two favorite people.

It had to be a dream… except angles didn't dream.

"Kagome!" Mayu came running through the door and pounced on Kagome, wrapping her in her tiny little arms.

"Ah… Mayu." She smiled, looking at the five-year-old in her arms.

"Mayu, get off of her!" Inuyasha shouted and reached over to grab Mayu.

Kagome could feel her face heating up as Inuyasha leaned in so close to her.

She saw his golden eyes look up at her. He then quickly averted them and grabbed Mayu from Kagome's grasp.

"Okay!" Sango said emerging from the room with twenty pairs of clothes. "You look about the same size I used to be."

Kagome smiled and looked at the clothes. "Are those for me?" She asked. Sango nodded.

"I'll help you change. Some of them are impossible to get on." She said as the two of them disappeared into the bedroom.

Miroku smirked and turned to Inuyasha. "Dude, she's gonna come out looking like a dominatrix or something. Those are the only clothes that used to fit Sango." He smiled. "God… good times."

"Miroku, will you stop?" Inuyasha snapped. "As much as I love to know about your sexscapades, I'd rather you keep those to yourself." He said, watching the bedroom.

"So, what am I here for, anyway?" He asked, turning to face Miroku. Miroku just scratched the back of his neck and looked to the side, doing his best to avoid eye contact.

"Well… you are taking Kagome home with you guys." He said, laughing nervously.

"WHAT?!" Inuyasha shouted. "Why do I have to look after her? Can't she stay here with you two? I've got enough on my plate as it is!"

Miroku sighed and held his hands out in an attempt to calm Inuyasha down. "Come on, she wants to be with you and Mayu… and she is a legit non-prostitute."

"Oh well that's fucking great!" Inuyasha shouted sarcastically.

"Daddy!" Mayu shouted.

"I meant freaking…" He said turning to her. "Anyway, is she who she says she is?" Inuyasha asked.

Miroku shrugged in response. "She's either an alien… a complete basket case… or an angel. Whatever the case, she has the same markings as a Kagome Higurashi from about fifteen years ago."

"You mean that chick who was murdered by 'The Scribbler'?" Inuyasha asked, laughing at the ridiculous name society gave the mass murderer.

"Well yea… she has the scribbles on her back. She's identical to the pictures of Kagome Higurashi. Either she went to extremes to get into your life or she's really Kagome Higurashi."

Inuyasha sighed and opened his mouth to speak, but turned to see Kagome standing at the doorway with Sango behind her. She was wearing a yellow sundress, which complimented every part of her figure.

He couldn't tear his eyes away.

"It's rude to gawk…" Miroku said laughing as he closed Inuyasha's mouth for him.

"Shut up." He said, shooting Miroku a glare. "Alright, well did you guys run any kinds of tests on her? She could be a robot…" He asked Sango and Miroku.

Sango raised an eyebrow. "Inuyasha… she's all flesh. Unless you're planning on some reenactment of the Terminator… I think you're good."

"But…" Miroku said walking over to Kagome and poising a hand in front of her breast. "I can give her a physical…" He smirked and was bonked over the head by both Sango and Inuyasha.

Mayu and Kagome both giggled.

"Well, I guess we should go!" Mayu said smiling and grabbing Kagome's hand leading her out of the door.

Inuyasha raised a hand in protest but was ignored. He rolled his eyes and followed Mayu out the door.

"Go get her, tiger!" Miroku shouted, growling to his friend.

"Shut up." Sango said, glaring at her husband.

Inuyasha just shook his head and made his way out to their truck.

He already knew he was in for quite the ride.

--

A/N

Sorry it took me a while. I've had ACTs this week and I really wanted to stay focused on them, but their over with now and I'm pretty sure my chances of getting above an 8 are slim. The math was impossible. I'm just not a math person at all. Anywho, hope you guys enjoyed. I've accumulated a lot of reviews… and my story's what like two chapters long? Woo hoo! Go you guys!" Well I appreciate them fully. Thanks everyone. My next update should be much sooner than this one was.

Please review. I love to hear what my readers think.

Love always

Patche


	5. Homecoming

By: Patche

**By: **Patche

**Disclaimer:** Do not own Inuyasha… only this story.

**Homecoming**  
--

Mayu gripped Kagome's hand forcefully the entire ride home as she blabbed to her about things Kagome had already seen happen.

But she didn't mind, she loved being with Mayu and Inuyasha… even if the later feeling wasn't so mutual.

The entire ride home, he wouldn't even glance at her… if he even turned her direction, he'd just sneer and turn back to the road. She supposed this was probably because he really… didn't like her at all.

She hadn't done anything wrong, really. Maybe it was just too much responsibility that he didn't want.

Kagome sighed and loosened her grip on Mayu's hand, interlacing her own fingers and laying them in her lap.

"Kagome?"

Kagome whipped her head around to face Mayu.

"Are you okay? You look awful sad."

Kagome gave her a half smile and a slight nod. "Of course, I'm just so overwhelmed, I suppose. It's great being here!" She felt her smile grow as she finished her sentence. Inuyasha let out a sneer.

Mayu smiled.

"Well you shouldn't be. It's not like living in this place is amazing…" She heard the dry, dull voice speak beside her.

Kagome sighed. "Well, Inuyasha, I think the world is as beautiful as you make it out to be. If you want to feel that it's some eternal hell, then I can assure you it will not appear as something amazing."

"You're an 'angel'. You're supposed to feel that way…" He muttered, turning the truck into the parking lot of their apartment complex.

Inuyasha parked the truck and practically flew out the door and up the stairs to the apartment. Kagome and Mayu followed slowly behind.

--

It was night out. Mayu sat in the living room begging some one to feed her as Inuyasha stormed out of his bedroom.

"I'm going to get some food. Will you just make sure she doesn't kill herself? Thanks." He mumbled, running out the door. He had spent the entire day avoiding Kagome to the best of his abilities. It was becoming a little odd.

Kagome had opened her mouth to speak, but closed it as the door slammed shut. Mayu watched as her face fell.

This was horrible. All she wanted now was to at least get Inuyasha to like her. But, so far, that seemed like quite the fantasy.

Mayu sighed and hopped off the couch over to Kagome.

"What am I doing wrong, Mayu? Why does he hate me?" She asked still staring at the door.

Mayu just shrugged and wrapped her tiny arms around Kagome. "I don't know. I don't think he hates you. Maybe it's like in Beauty and the Beast whenever he secretly loved her but he had to act mean to her…"

Kagome giggled. "Well, that would be a stretch, I think. When did you see the play?"

Mayu looked taken aback. "The play? It's a movie…"

"A movie? I've never seen it…"

Mayu smiled and clapped her hands together. "Oh you should see it!" She ran off to her room to grab the movie.

Kagome sat, dumbfounded as Mayu ran away to grab the movie. All she could think about was Inuyasha and how cruel he'd been to her.

How could she ever make him like her?

Just as Kagome let out a sigh, Mayu came running back into the living room with the DVD. She held it out before Kagome.

"I don't know how to put it in…" She said, softly. "Will you do it?"

Kagome quirked her head to the side. "…what is it?"

"A movie!" Mayu said. "You don't know what movies are?"

Kagome shook her head. "No… I know what they are, but they come in little brick-like tapes."

Mayu grimaced. "Tapes?"

Kagome nodded. "I guess technology really boomed after I died." She shrugged. "Well… where is the movie-player?" She asked standing up. "It can't be too hard to figure out."

Mayu pointed to the silver DVD player on the entertainment stand.

Kagome looked horrified as she walked up to the box. There were three green lights blinking and no flaps to put the disc in. She glanced around the back to find nothing but cables and on top of the box, just a logo.

"Maybe this will help?" Mayu offered, handing her the remote. Kagome practically fainted on the spot.

To say the thing had over a hundred buttons would be an understatement. Kagome desperately searched for an "open" button, but found none.

"I'm sorry, Mayu. I'm afraid I just don't know how to work this…" She said handing the remote over to the five-year old.

Mayu sniffled. "But… but I really wanted to watch it…"

Kagome frowned. "Well, as soon as Inuyasha gets home, I'm sure he can put it in for us… then I'll watch it with you, for certain." Kagome gave her a warm smile.

A weird thing happened at that point. Normally, a hungry, tired and disappointed five-year-old who was already on the verge of a temper tantrum would not stop crying. But, there was something about the way Kagome comforted her that just brought a smile to Mayu's face.

She couldn't stay sad.

Mayu looked up at her through red-swollen eyes and gave her a slight smile. "You promise you'll watch it with me?" She asked.

Kagome nodded. "Of course, I'm excited to see it."

They both whipped around at the sound of the front door opening.

Inuyasha came in, looking angry as he usually did, holding a bag of Wacdonalds.

"Daddy!" Mayu shouted, running up to hug him.

He smiled, looking down at her. "Hey…"

Mayu let him go and climbed up in her chair at the table. "What did you get me?"

"A burger and some fries… what else?" Inuyasha grumbled sitting down beside her about to bite into his dinner. He caught Mayu watching Kagome.

"Aren't you hungry, Kagome?" Mayu asked.

Kagome looked over at them and shook her head. "No, I'm alright… don't worry…" She trailed off after noticing a burger wrapped up sitting alone.

Inuyasha watched her out of the corner of his eyes.

"I am your babysitter, you know…" He mumbled noticing her shocked expression.

Kagome let out a soft smile. "Well… thank you. This is so nice of you." She said whole-heartedly as she sat down beside Mayu.

Mayu beamed and glanced over at her father…

…who had his eyes glued on Kagome.

--

"Daddy… will you put this in for us? I promised Kagome I'd show her Beauty and the Beast tonight." Mayu whined as Inuyasha tucked her into bed.

He turned to look at Kagome, raising an eyebrow. She just smiled and nodded.

"If… that's okay with you." She mumbled.

"I don't care what you do…" Inuyasha grumbled, opening the DVD player and turning the movie on for them. "Just put her to bed when it's over. I don't think you'll mind the couch…" He added, disappearing into his bedroom.

Kagome sighed, watching him leave then turned her attentions back to Mayu who was asleep before the credits even started.

Kagome giggled to herself, picking the sleeping girl up and taking her to her bedroom, which was decorated with pink lace all around it.

"Goodnight, Mayu…" She whispered, tucking the girl in and placing a light kiss on her forehead. "I'm so happy to be here…" She smiled and stood up to leave when she heard Mayu mumble, "Goodnight, Kagome…" in her sleep.

Kagome turned Mayu's night-light on and cracked the door shut, returning to the living room.

She lay herself down on the couch and wiggled herself into a comfortable position. She heard a door open and the light footsteps coming through the hallway.

Mayu stood in front of her, holding a quilt in her hands. "I forgot to leave this out for you. I'm sorry." She said handing Kagome the blanket.

Kagome took it and covered herself up with it, smiling at the girl. "Thanks so much, sweetie. Goodnight." Mayu nodded and wiped her eyes, heading back to her bedroom.

Kagome sighed and glanced up at the ceiling as the light from the movie flickered against the walls.

"Where's my guardian angel when you need one?" She asked herself, closing her eyes to try to fall asleep.

--

A/N

It's been a while. I'm so sorry. I don't have much of an excuse… just got a little tied up in end-of-school affairs. Anywho I'm here for the summer… so look forward to more chapters. Thanks for all your kind words, I appreciate them all.

Please review. I love to hear what my readers think.

Love always

Patche


	6. Taking a Chance

By: Patche

**By: **Patche

**Disclaimer:** Do not own Inuyasha… only this story.

**Taking a Chance**  
--

"Hey, Daddy…" Mayu started as she and Inuyasha drove up to Sango and Miroku's. Kagome was still asleep, so they thought it would be best to not wake her.

"Hmm?" He asked, turning his head to her. Mayu shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Do you… hate Kagome?" She asked giving him a look of worry. Inuyasha sighed and stopped at the red light, taking the time to rub his palm down his face.

"Mayu. I don't hate her. I just can't trust her, okay?" He said, making sure not to confuse his daughter.

"Well, I think you should trust her. I mean, I…" Mayu took in a deep breath as if she were about to confess to stealing a cookie. "I wished for her to come."

Inuyasha didn't let her words faze him as the light turned green.

"I wished for her to come because I wanted a mom… and I wanted some one who would come here and love you…" She twiddled her thumbs.

"Why do you worry about that kind of stuff, Mayu? I'm fine… you're fine. We don't need some one like that in our lives. It can be just you and me." He said smiling as he pinched her cheek. "I love you enough for two sets of parents."

Mayu gave him a half smile and glanced at the window. She just wanted him to give Kagome a chance.

"I tell you what…" Inuyasha started. Mayu whipped her head around, as her two pigtails bopped her in the face. Inuyasha couldn't help but laugh as she scrunched her nose and shook her head.

"…I'll try to get to know her. But, there's a catch…"

Mayu widened her eyes and raised her eyebrows, asking him to continue.

"If I still think she's up to no good, then she's not staying, okay?" He said.

Mayu's eyes widened. "So… if you don't like her, then she's gone?" She asked pathetically as his words sank in.

Inuyasha nodded, smiling.

"But, Daddy… you don't like anybody!" Mayu whined.

"Hey!" Inuyasha retorted. "That's not true at all. I like Miroku and Sango… and I _love_ you." Mayu's face remained stern.

"What?" Inuyasha asked, laughing.

"Dad, that's only three people…" Mayu sighed.

Inuyasha smirked. "Hey, I spy a Toys R Us. Aren't you going to get all excited like normal five-year-olds do?" He joked trying to change the subject.

--

Kagome sat in front of the TV, watching the news. It was amazing to see just what was going on in the world today with the war on terror and all the fuel-efficient cars…

She thought, for a minute, maybe this was why everyone was so on-edge about everything. She had noticed people just always seemed so hostile now compared to fifteen years ago.

The jingling of keys at the door averted her train of thought.

"Inuyasha?" She asked, looking behind him. "Where's Mayu?"

He took a quick glance behind him. "I left her at Sango and Miroku's." He shrugged and set his keys down on the counter. "I figure she'd have more fun with them…"

Kagome chewed nervously on her bottom lip. Now there was nothing to ease the awkwardness between her and Inuyasha.

'_Oh, Izayoi… I'd appreciate any help you'd lend me'_ Kagome thought, closing her eyes. Just as she opened them, she noticed a beautiful portrait hanging on the wall.

She recognized the face enough. "Inuyasha…" She started walking towards the picture.

"Yea?" He asked in his gruff tone.

"Is this your mother?" She ran her fingers along the thin silver frame remembering just what Izayoi had looked like in heaven. She wasn't so young and beautiful as she was in the picture. It was obvious that life had worn her down slightly… but there was no doubt in her mind that was indeed her good friend, Izayoi.

"Yea…" Inuyasha muttered. "How'd you know?" He asked in a tone that suggested he really didn't care about her answer.

"I knew her." Kagome said, keeping her eyes on the picture as Inuyasha plopped down on the couch behind her.

"Did ya?" He asked, looking out the window. "A friend from high school or something?"

Kagome giggled, turning to face him. "I don't think I'd be old enough to be your mother, Inuyasha. Anyway, no… I knew her in heaven. She was the nicest angel I'd met…" She said smiling. "She'd always talk about you and Mayu saying how much she wished she could be here."

Inuyasha nodded slowly. "Yea. Too bad that coke habit of hers got to her first."

Kagome's face fell. Izayoi never did explain what killed her, exactly… but Kagome never thought it'd be a bad thing like a cocaine addiction.

"What?" Kagome asked, clutching her chest as she sat down beside Inuyasha. He sighed and shifted in the couch to stand.

"Don't worry about it." He muttered. "It's none of your business." he grumbled, making his way to the bedroom.

Kagome let out a sigh of defeat, collapsing on the couch.

'_What would Izayoi tell me to do?' _She smirked considering the advice she'd get from her angel friend.

'_Well, it won't necessarily be pretty… but maybe I should just come out and ask… yea!´_ Kagome smiled, pounding her fist into her open palm.

She had it now.

She stood up and marched over to Inuyasha's closed door. "Hey, Inuyasha… can we talk, please?" She asked waiting for his response. She felt so determined to get to the bottom of this. It was time she and Inuyasha patched things up if she was going to be staying here until she managed to get back to heaven.

She heard him get up and walk to the door.

"About what?" He asked, cracking the door. She sighed, looking into his golden eyes that always seemed to be filled with loathing for her.

"I just don't want you to be mad at me anymore… I mean, I don't have a clue what I did, but whatever it was I am so so very sorry, Inuyasha. I just want you to like me. I like you very much."

Inuyasha grimaced. "Fine."

"So, what's wrong?" Kagome asked as Inuyasha stepped out of his room.

He dug his hands into his pockets. "I just really can't trust you, Kagome. I mean, you fell out of the fucking sky… you know way way too much about my family. You're not trustworthy in my book."

Kagome nodded. "I understand that. This is a very odd circumstance. But I'm trying here. I just don't know how I can get you to trust me. I'm really quite harmless. I promise." She gave him a half smile.

"And how good is some one I don't trusts' word, huh?" Inuyasha asked raising an eyebrow as he disappeared into his room again. "Look. I'll tell you this. You're not here because of me. If this shit were up to me, you'd be on the streets in the rain… I don't fucking care. But for whatever reason, Mayu loves you and I'm not chasing away the best woman to walk into her life…" He then closed the door. Kagome could feel the gap between them grow as he spoke those words.

He didn't care at all what happened to her. She was just here to make his daughter happy.

--

"I wonder what Kagome and Daddy are doing…" Mayu pondered out loud watching the storm develop outside.

"Well… I bet Kagome is out on the couch wondering why Inuyasha won't speak to her and thinking it has something to do with her, while Inuyasha is locked up in that shrine to Kikyou of his wishing his daughter's guardian angel didn't have to remind him so much of the better parts of Kikyou." Miroku said, digging into the pancakes Sango just made.

"I think you're spot on, Miroku." Sango said laughing. Mayu turned to watch them.

"Do you think he'll ever like her? I'm so tired of him treating her like she's a monster." Mayu balled her hands into little fists.

Miroku scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Well, Mayu… the thing is your dad is weary of any woman. He just flat-out doesn't trust them with anything… not to mention his heart. He just loved your mom so very much that it left a huge dent in his heart. He can't open it up to anyone else until it's healed." Sango said for her husband.

"But he likes you, Sango." Mayu said. Sango nodded and smiled.

"Yea, but I'm married… so any chances of me breaking his heart are kind of slimmed down." She said.

"They better be…" Miroku mumbled. Sango quirked an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Since when are you the possessive, jealous husband-type?"

"Ever since you mentioned how good looking Inuyasha was…" Miroku replied. Sango stood baffled.

"Are you kidding me? I said that Mayu had such pretty eyes. She must have gotten them from her father."

Mayu smiled at the little lovers quarrel.

"Well, yes… but in Sangonese that means 'Inuyasha's oh so hunky.' He said in a voice mocking Sango's. She smiled and punched him playfully.

"I have an idea that'll help you out, Mayu." Sango suggested smiling. "But it'll take some extreme cooperation on your behalf."

Mayu nodded. "What is it?"

--

A/N

Ahh what's the plan? I don't know… well… I do, but you guys don't and you'll have to wait until I update again. Hahaha. Did you guys know this Wednesday the last Inuyasha chapter ever is coming out? I'm horribly disturbed by the fact. I already miss it.

Please review. I love to hear what my readers think.

Love always

Patche


	7. Spinister

**By: **Patche

**Disclaimer:** Do not own Inuyasha… only this story.

**Spinister**  
--

"Kagome, I'm going to pick Mayu up from Sango and Miroku's. Do you need anything?" Inuyasha asked on his way out the door without a pause to actually listen to her response.

"Could I come along?" She asked meekly, causing his ear to twitch before turning his face to her.

"It's not the quickest ride…" He tried to argue.

"That's okay." Kagome said cheerfully pulling her shoes on. "I'd like some time away from here and it'd be nice to see Mayu sooner."

Inuyasha shrugged, slightly disappointed in Kagome's eagerness to join him and opened the door for her to leave first.

They approached the truck and hopped into their appropriate seats. Inuyasha turned the key in the ignition to start the truck and instantly turned the radio up to keep Kagome from talking.

Kagome sat listening to radio announcer while she watched the trees and cars pass by on the road ahead of them.

"What do you want to listen to?"

Inuyasha's voice jolted Kagome out of her reverie.

"Umm… that's totally up to you. I'm not too familiar with newer music anyway." She gave a weak laugh at the end of her sentence.

Inuyasha felt the edge of his mouth curl up into a smile at her remark. "Well, what did you listen to? I don't really listen to newer shit anyway…" He noticed Kagome's eyes widen. "Sorry, _stuff_…"

"It's okay. You don't need to apologize. I should probably just get used to it." She bit her lip as she searched her brain for music she enjoyed.

"You don't remember what kind of music you listened to?" He asked in disbelief.

Kagome squinted one eye in concentration. "It's difficult to remember anything from my life. The important stuff is there, like my mother and family and people that I loved and who I was… but the details aren't. It's something that happens to everyone when they die."

Inuyasha raised his eyebrows. "Oh? So, when I die… I won't remember this moment… at all?"

Kagome eyed him curiously. "You'll remember the things that you loved most and the things that shaped you and made you the person that you are… For instance, you'll remember Mayu and how much she changed your life. However, you probably wouldn't remember that you drove a truck or lived in a gray apartment building."

"Well, isn't this a life changing moment right now?" He debated.

Kagome laughed in disbelief. "What do you mean? We're not doing anything significant…"

"Except I am talking to an angel about what life is like after death. It think it's information I'd like to remain in my memory bank." He flashed her a cocky smile.

Kagome laughed and shook her head.

Kagome realized how out of touch she'd been once they arrived at Miroku and Sango's house. She had actually had a conversation with the man, and he wasn't being rude or distant at all. He seemed interested in what she had to say. This was a little weird.

Inuyasha put the truck in park and glanced over at her. He cleared his throat to help not seem like they had just talked for the whole ride. "I'm gonna go get her… You can come if you want." With that, he bolted out of the truck, not waiting for a response.

'And we're back to the same guy we were before…' Kagome thought. She looked out her window and saw Inuyasha picking Mayu up and smiling at Sango and Miroku. Mayu held up two tickets excitedly to show Inuyasha. He smiled uneasily and walked away from the door after saying goodbye to everyone.

Mayu ran up to the truck and hurriedly got in and fastened her seatbelt. "Kagome, Kagome!" She shouted breathlessly.

Kagome looked down waiting for her to continue. "What is it, Mayu?" She asked.

Inuyasha had just made his way up to the truck when Mayu continued.

"Auntie Sango gave me these concert tickets so you and Daddy can go see a concert! Isn't that great?"

Kagome looked a little bewildered as Inuyasha got in the truck.

"We're going to a concert…" He said dryly.

Mayu squealed with delight.

Kagome laughed. "Why are you so excited about this?" She asked.

"Because then you and Daddy can spend some time together and he'll stop hating you!"

Kagome's face fell and Inuyasha tensed.

The ride home was silent.

--

Inuyasha sat on the couch after they made it home. He sat thinking about what Mayu said and Kagome's reaction. As he thought more and more about how horribly he'd treated Kagome, Inuyasha almost wished he could take it all back and give her the second chance she deserved. He knew the real problem wasn't that he didn't trust Kagome. He believed her story, as crazy as it was. He knew that she was good for Mayu.

But he also knew that as amazing and sweet as she was… her presence was temporary. No one knew when she'd leave, but it was going to happen eventually since her being there wasn't purposeful to begin with. And he didn't want to get attached to something that was inevitably going to leave him.

Kagome sighed, plopping down on the couch beside him.

"She's all tucked in and I think I saw her eyelids closing as I walked out the door." She said, flashing him her beautiful smile and anticipating his usual grunt of approval and exit to his bedroom.

Her smile faded ever so slightly, when she noticed Inuyasha had actually turned to face her.

He opened his mouth and sighed, turning to the two tickets in his hand.

"You can take Mayu with. Like I said, I don't even know if I'd like the band." Kagome offered smiling.

Inuyasha shook his head.

"Or I can take her if you don't like the band…"

"Oh no, trust me… Sango did a good job picking out the band. It's my favorite." He sounded defeated.

"Who is it?" Kagome asked curiously.

"It's an older band named Spinister…"

Kagome's eyed widened. "Spinister?"

Inuyasha laughed. "I thought you didn't remember what kind of music you did or didn't like…"

Kagome shook her head still in shock. "No, I mean, I know the band. My ex boyfriend from high school started a band with that same name… I just think it's a little weird."

Inuyasha pursed his lips.

"I doubt it's his band! I mean, that's crazy…"

"Well, what was his name?" Inuyasha asked. "I know everything to know about this band, and they did start up as a local high school band…" He said pointing to the tickets in his hand.

"Amuro Kouga…" Kagome said bashfully.

Inuyasha's jaw dropped.

"Oh my gosh! Is it his band?" Kagome asked, excitedly.

"Uh… yeah… Kouga's the drummer…" Inuyasha said, not believing the words coming out of his own mouth. "Oh my God…" He turned back to Kagome. "So, it's really likely that one if their songs has to be about you…"

"Oh please! That's not even possible."

"_Her raven hair still shines in the sun, she's left me and I know she was the one…"_ Inuyasha started singing.

Kagome quirked an eyebrow.

"You have black hair and I'm betting you left the guy…" Inuyasha clarified.

"I would never date someone with such cheesy lyric writing abilities." Kagome joked.

Inuyasha smiled. "Well, he was abandoned. He states that very clearly in the lyrics. He just doesn't allude to the fact that that's WHY you left him."

"I thought the name was very clever. That was Kouga's idea. He said it was supposed to represent a 'sinister old single woman'" Kagome said laughing.

Inuyasha nodded slowly laughing along with her. "Sinister and spinster… what a genius."

He looked up to see Kagome smiling her beautiful smile at him. In just one day, their entire relationship seemed to have made a one eighty.

Inuyasha shook it off. "Well, I've got to get to bed. But you and me, nine o'clock Friday night. We're rocking out to some Spinister!" He said playfully standing up from the couch.

Kagome smiled. "You don't want Mayu to go with you?" She asked.

"I don't want to listening to this shi-cra-stuff…" Inuyasha corrected himself.

Kagome nodded. "Well, thank you." She said politely.

"For what? Sango bought them."

Kagome looked up at him, giving him an intense look of appreciation he couldn't help but get a little carried away with.

"Thank you for being so nice to me today. It was nice to talk to you."

Inuyasha nodded and added, "I was the one missing out" just before taking off to his bedroom leaving a stunned Kagome on the couch to herself.

--

A/N

So, yeah… it's been a while. I'm really terribly sorry everyone. I got caught up in a lot of things, graduating, starting college, moving across the country… it's just been quite a while since I've had time to even think about what I wanted to do with this story. Well, it popped back into my head about a week ago and I felt so guilty for not updating when this story was so well-liked.

I won't do it to you guys again. I'm very sorry. I'm sure I lost some readers in the process, but to those who remain, I'll make it worth your wait.

Please review. I love to hear what my readers think.

Love always

Patche


	8. Human

**By: **Patche

**Disclaimer:** Do not own Inuyasha… only this story.

**Human**  
--

_"Hitomi was your average high school student until her fifteenth birthday."_

_ "Ja ne, Okaa-san!"_

_ "When she fell into the well behind her house and transported herself…"_

_ "Where am I?"_

_ "Five hundred years in the past!"_

_ "gasp"_

_ "Now she must team up with a half cat-demon to help save the feudal era of Japan. There's just one problem…"_

_ "Keh! Dumb wench! Watch where you're walking…"_

_ "You don't need to push me, you jerk!"_

_ "They can't get along in the slightest."_

_ "Now this unorthodox pair must travel across Japan and fight for the Ichikon jewel."_

_ "slash-boom!"_

_ "NEKOYASHA!"_

_ "Hitomi!"_

_ "Nekoyasha!"_

_ "HITOMI!"_

_ "NEKOYASHA! A Feudal Fairy Tale! Coming soon to a theater near you."_

"That looks so ridiculous…" Sango said dryly to her husband as they sat on the couch.

"I think the story looks interesting." Miroku commented, reaching down to throw some popcorn in his mouth.

"He reminds me of daddy!" Mayu commented, digging for popcorn herself.

Sango and Miroku chuckled. "He even has a disturbingly similar name." Miroku said.

Mayu giggled. "It's like daddy, just with cat ears!"

Sango sighed. "Gosh, I've seen so many previews, I forgot what movie we were watching anyway…"

"I think it's that one about the puppy that saves the city from some dictator mayor…" Miroku said as another preview started.

"It's not a puppy, it's a kitten, Uncle Roku!" Mayu corrected him.

"Right, because that's so much more logical…"

Sango punched him lightly on the arm. 'Don't make fun of it…' She mouthed.

--

"Oh my gosh! They sound exactly the same as they did in high school!" Kagome laughed as she and Inuyasha walked out of the club Spinister played in.

"They sounded like that back then?" Inuyasha asked in disbelief. "I didn't think people liked that kind of music in the sixties…" He said, catching Kagome's reaction out of the corner of his eye and letting a confident smirk grace his lips."

Kagome gasped. "How old do you think I am?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "I don't have a clue. But, you can't be younger than forty, right?"

Kagome chuckled and shook her head. "You are such a jerk!"

Inuyasha smiled.

"I'm twenty three…" She said. "You don't need to make fun of it."

"I know." He said as he continued to walk. "We're the same age."

"That's a little hard to believe." Kagome muttered.

"Oh? Why's that? I'm so mature for my age?"

Kagome laughed. "As if! I was thinking more the opposite…"

Inuyasha froze. "Hey! I'm totally mature for my age!"

"Well…" Kagome spun around to face him. He watched as her black hair and skirt twirled from the sudden movement and finally bounced into place. Her dark hazel eyes held a confident smirk in them. However, once Kagome caught sight of his bewildered stare, her eyes softened and then averted their gaze.

"What? Forgot your snippy remark?" Inuyasha asked as he came back to reality and tried to soften the blush burning through his cheeks.

Kagome smiled to herself and continued walking. "No, you just looked so preciously confused, I figured I'd let you believe what you want."

Inuyasha caught up to her and kept pace as they continued to argue. "You know… you started off so nice and quiet and sweet and innocent… What the hell happened?"

Kagome laughed some more. "I don't know, but you started it!" She said poking him in the arm.

"Hey wait!"

Inuyasha and Kagome both turned around to see a tan man with long black hair chasing after them.

"Oh my gosh…" Kagome started, trying to cover her face as he caught them.

"You were at the concert tonight?"

"Uh… yeah. We were…" Inuyasha said, looking down at Kagome's pitiful attempt to hide from this guy. "You're Kouga, right? The drummer…"

The man smiled. "Yeah, Kouga's the name… Drumming's my game…" He said and followed with a laugh to represent the amount of working brain cells he still had in his head.

'Kagome dated this guy…?' Inuyasha thought to himself with a look of disgust as Kouga continued to crack himself up with his very cliché jokes.

"So, hey… girl… I know you, don't I?"

Kagome peeked up at him from her makeshift mask.

"Umm…"

A look of recognition hit his face as his blue eyes met with her hazel orbs. "Oh my GOD! Kagome Higurashi… No fucking WAY! Man, this is some crazy shit! I swear, I've done some messed up stuff all my life. But I've been sober for a whole three weeks now. There's no way. You're dead, right?"

"We should get going…" Inuyasha started, grabbing Kagome's arm and turning from Kouga.

"No, bro! I'm not crazy. I know this is her!" Kouga said, swiping Inuyasha's hand away from Kagome.

Inuyasha sneered at him. "Don't touch me…" He threatened.

Kagome saw the pathetic fight that was about to start up over some one having too much of a temper and another someone not having the capacity to understand that he was actually upsetting the other.

"Okay, first of all…" Kagome intervened. "You're almost forty, Kouga. Don't say 'bro'. Secondly, yes… I am Kagome Higurashi. Maybe if you had sobered up a little bit after high school, you would have realized that I was not the Kagome Higurashi that was murdered so many years ago, but instead the Kagome Higurashi that dated you… pathetically enough. "

Inuyasha looked stunned. This fire had just erupted out of the girl. She never acted spunky, and she'd been living with him for a month. She was always so kind and innocent.

Kouga smiled. "Same old Kagome! Jesus, you look exactly the same too. I can't even imagine you're my age… You look like jailbait! Fucking hot!"

Inuyasha shoved himself in between the two.

"Like I said, we're leaving!" He said, turning Kagome around and pushing her away from Kouga.

"Maybe she'd want to spend the night with a real man, just like the old days, huh, Kagome?!" Kouga shouted.

'Kouga's clearly drunk… this can only end badly…' Kagome thought to herself.

"What?" Inuyasha asked turning around. Kagome tried to tug on his arm to ignore Kouga, but went completely unnoticed.

"Don't get all upset because someone thinks you've got a hot girlfriend… _half breed_."

Kagome reached out to grab Inuyasha, but was too late. She watched in horror as his fist collided with Kouga's face.

Kouga snarled and punched Inuyasha in the stomach, causing him to double over, just before elbowing him in the nose.

Inuyasha grabbed Kouga's legs and knocked them out from underneath him. Kouga fell to the ground and scrambled to get up. He and Inuyasha were both on their feet now, face to face.

Kouga smirked and head butted Inuyasha. The half demon fell backwards as Kouga ran away, shouting obscenities until he was out of earshot.

Kagome managed to catch Inuyasha before he fell in her arms and gently lay him down on the ground.

"Please be conscious…" Kagome said to him, noticing his closed eyes.

She dug through her purse searching for anything to wake him. "Shoot!" She shouted realizing there was nothing in her purse to help with the situation.

"So, I was right… you are forty…"

Kagome looked up to see Inuyasha sitting up on his elbows and smiling weakly.

"You are such an idiot!" She shouted to him. Inuyasha's ears folded downward due to the unexpected noise.

"I just got the shit kicked out of me for you, and you have the audacity to call me an idiot?" Inuyasha asked, hurt by her comment.

Kagome sighed loudly. "Yes! I did not ask you to punch him in the face. That was your own doing. I tried to stop you, but you wouldn't listen to me and you only wanted to punch him because he insulted you and it made me feel bad for you and I had to lie to him which means I'm not going to get to go back to heaven and I was worried about you and your nose still hasn't stopped bleeding and I thought you could have died because it sounded really painful and I'm not forty!" Kagome blabbered out as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Jesus, woman…" Inuyasha said, sitting up. "Don't cry about it. I'm fine and he's fine and you're fine."

Kagome looked up at him, her eyes still brimming with tears.

"And you're only twenty three…" Inuyasha continued.

Kagome gave a pathetic laugh and wiped the tears away from her eyes.

"Oh my goodness… I'm sorry about all that. I forgot what it was like to cry for no reason…" She said laughing at herself.

"The perks of being a human girl." Inuyasha muttered as he stood up and held a hand out to help Kagome up.

Kagome laughed. "I'm sorry I called you an idiot. I was just really worked up, I guess…"

Inuyasha smirked. "It's alright. I liked when you bit into Kouga. I never even imagined you could let loose on someone like that."

"Well, if I ever had doubts as to why we didn't work out in high school, they're definitely gone now." She said smiling at Inuyasha. "Thank you for helping me to maintain my dignity."

"Oh, it had nothing to do with you. I really just love punching people."

Kagome playfully pushed him.

'It's so weird, though. It's almost as if I'm becoming more and more human. I haven't argued with anyone like that since my death. And I most certainly haven't cried in years.'

--

"She didn't even make it through half the movie." Miroku said in a hushed voice to Inuyasha and Kagome who were there to pick Mayu up.

"I'm going to talk to Sango really quick…" Kagome whispered to Inuyasha. She walked off into the kitchen where Sango was standing over the counter, reading something.

"Sango?" Kagome asked. Sango looked up from her reading material.

"Yes, Kagome?" She asked.

Kagome bowed her head slightly as she thought of how to ask her question.

"I think something is wrong with me." She said softly. Sango quirked an eyebrow urging her to explain. "I just… I'm losing my angelic…ness and becoming more human."

"What makes you say that?"

"I snapped on someone today and I'm actually flirting with Inuyasha! It's just weird. I'm a little worried."

Sango let out a soft chuckle. "Kagome… you're a girl living in the twenty-first century. That's not abnormal. Well, everything but the flirting with Inuyasha bit is normal…" Sango sighed. "Please don't fall in love with him, Kagome. For your own sake!"

'Too late…' Kagome thought to herself. "Why?"

Sango sighed. "He's not… available… emotionally. He has only ever devoted himself to two women and that's Mayu and Kikyou. He just isn't going to love you back. He can't, Kagome. As much as he tries to hide it, he loves Kikyou still. He always has. No one knows why. The truth is sad, Kagome. You don't belong here, though. You belong in heaven and by some freak accident you wound up down here with us. You'll be gone soon enough and Inuyasha's prepared for that. He's not going to open his heart to you under those circumstances."

Kagome couldn't tear her gaze away from the ground. She felt her nose stinging and her throat becoming dry and swollen as she tried to hold back tears.

"You need to focus on getting back, not on winning Inuyasha over."

"I didn't… I mean, that's not why I think I'm here… And I'm not hoping that he will…" Kagome said softly. "I just think we're getting along now and it's nice." She kept her eyes on the ground like a child getting scolded would. 'Another lie. I'm getting good at this, disturbingly enough.'

"I'm just saying you need to be careful, Kagome." Sango said.

A loud banging on the kitchen door broke both girls from their concentration.

"Kagome! We have to go. Mayu woke up and she's going to throw a fit if she doesn't get in bed soon. Come on!" Inuyasha shouted from the other side of the door.

Kagome sniffled and wiped her cheeks. "C-Coming!" She said, her voice breaking as she turned away from Sango.

Inuyasha's ears flattened and he looked at the ground to avoid eye contact when Kagome exited the room. 'Sango doesn't know what the hell she's talking about…' He thought, walking away from the door.

--

A/N

Thanks everyone for your kind words. It's nice to know I haven't lost all of you! Anyway, there is a bit of a problem on the horizon… Kagome's becoming more and more human... Uh oh! And don't think Sango's a bitch, guys. She's just being honest…

Oh my gosh, by the way… did anyone else realize there are new episodes of Inuyasha playing on Hulu? I totally didn't. It's called Inuyasha The Final Act. I had a little nerdfest last night and watched all the episodes for 5 hours. It was crazy fun. Go check it out if you didn't know about it already. They aren't really "new" episodes because it's just the chapters of the manga in animated form, but still… they are super good. I freaked out.

Please review. I love to hear what my readers think.

Love always

Patche


	9. Mayu's First Day

**By: **Patche

**Disclaimer:** Do not own Inuyasha… only this story.

**Mayu's First Day**  
--

It was Mayu's first day of school. She woke up smiling and hopped out of bed as soon as she could without taking a glance at her clock. She waddled over to her closet and opened the doors, digging for the perfect outfit. She had seen it in all the cartoons. The kid's get up, open their closet, pick out one of their uniforms and then get ready to roll out the door.

She smiled to herself as she found the hanger holding the exact outfit and pulled it out of the closet.

--

Kagome awoke to the sound of cluttering around in the kitchen. She lazily opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings from the couch, and then spotted Mayu climbing up to the top of a dining chair, reaching for the highest cabinet in the kitchen.

Kagome leapt up from the couch and rushed over to stop the girl from falling.

"Mayu!" She gasped as the chair began to tilt and Mayu was about to land face-first into floor tile. Kagome slid through the kitchen and caught Mayu just as the chair fell.

"Whew…" Mayu breathed out, wiping imaginary sweat from her forehead. "That was a close one, Kagome!" She said smiling.

Kagome released the girl, frowning. "Mayu, what were you doing?"

Mayu shrugged. "I wanted to make you and daddy some pancakes. The pancake box is up in the top cabinet and I'm too short to grab it. So, I used the chair." Mayu said smiling.

'Thank goodness I got to her before she tried to light the stove…' Kagome thought to herself. This child was bent on suicide.

"Well, I'll get the box down for you. Do you know how to make pancakes?" Kagome questioned, still a little groggy from her odd awakening.

Mayu nodded. "Of course I do! They're my favorite food to eat!" Kagome nodded waiting for the girl to continue. "First, you get the box down, then you pour milk into the box… then you shake up the box and pour it all out onto the stove. Then you light the stove and wait until the fire burns the pancakes and then their done!"

'Reeeaaally good thing that she didn't get the box down…' Kagome thought smiling weakly at the girl.

"Well, I happen to be an expert pancake maker… and you're pretty close to making the perfect pancakes, Mayu. So, I'll tell you what… why don't you let me help you make the pancakes? Then we'll surprise your daddy and you'll know all my perfect pancake making secrets!" Kagome offered smiling at Mayu.

The young girl tilted her head to the side and scratched her chin as she pondered Kagome's offer.

"Won't you be upset that your secret pancakes will be stolen?" Mayu asked Kagome.

Kagome simply smiled and shook her head. "Well, I'm trusting you to keep them a secret. I'm willing to share my secret with you."

Mayu's eyes widened. "Why would you do something like that if it's a secret?"

Kagome knelt down beside the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Because you're my friend, Mayu."

Mayu grinned a toothy grin and nodded. "Well, let's do it, Kagome!"

Kagome reached up to grab the pancake box. "Now first, instead of just pouring the milk in the box, I get out a big bowl and pour some of the stuff in the box into the bowl…" Mayu nodded. "Will you get me the milk?"

Mayu reached behind her and opened the fridge to get out the milk jug.

"Now, I pour a little milk in the bowl and mix it up with a spoon."

Mayu nodded. "Hey, Kagome?" Mayu asked as Kagome stirred. "You want to know a secret of mine since you told me yours?"

"What's that?" Kagome asked curiously.

"I saw my daddy playing with his pee pee once!" Mayu said giggling.

Kagome laughed weakly along with Mayu. "Thanks for sharing that…" She said closing her eyes in horror.

Mayu beamed. "Well, you're my friend, Kagome!"

--

Inuyasha yawned, stepping out of the shower. He reached for the nearest towel and wrapped it around his bottom half, leaving his chiseled torso exposed as he walked from the bathroom to the master bedroom. He groaned replacing the towel with a pair of red boxers, then pulling jeans up over them.

He heard laughter coming from the kitchen then lazily turned around to look at his clock. 'Jesus, they're already up?' He mentally asked himself. How could he survive in a household where the two women liked to wake up before the crack of dawn?

Pulling a white T shirt over his chest and a belt around his hips, he let his long mane out of the low ponytail it was in and headed for the kitchen.

"What's all this?" He asked seeing Kagome and Mayu holding a plate full of pancakes.

"Mayu made you breakfast." Kagome gave him a weak smile.

Mayu popped out from behind Kagome. "Kagome gave me her very secret recipe to make the perfect pancakes!"

Inuyasha smiled and scanned is daughter over.

Her black hair was down and tangled beneath a tiara clearly constructed of pure plastic. She had a blue ball gown fit for a toddler on over her body and was wearing silver slippers that were at least two sizes too big for her.

"Mayu… what are you wearing?" Inuyasha deadpanned.

"I'm a princess, daddy! I have to go to school like this!" Mayu argued.

"Mayu, you have to wear the uniform the school gave us. You'll get into big trouble if you don't wear it. Go get changed." Inuyasha ordered, gesturing to her bedroom.

"Daddy, I don't wanna!" Mayu shouted, stomping her foot as her eyes began to water.

Kagome quickly intervened noticing the impatient look on Inuyasha's face.

"Mayu, sweetie… you can wear the princess gown outside of school. The school just needs you to wear the uniform so the regular students won't know who the princesses and princes are."

"Why?" Mayu sniffled, looking up at Kagome.

"You don't want the other kids to be afraid of you, do you? They'd be scared if they knew a princess went to school with them. That's why the school wants you to wear the uniform. It's a disguise." Kagome said, trying to explain the situation in five-year-old logistics.

Mayu nodded and wiped her eyes. "Oh…okay…" She said dejectedly as she walked off to her room, nearly tripping over her silver slippers on the way.

Inuyasha sighed and ran a clawed hand through his hair before looking up at Kagome.

"I guess I lack a little sensitivity in those areas…" He murmured taking a pancake off the stack and placing them on a plate for Mayu.

_He sat on the sidewalk during his recess as the other kids all paired up and played together. Most of the girls went to the jungle gym or played hopscotch on the sidewalk while the boys went out and played tag in the field. _

_ He usually did the same thing every day. He'd sit on the sidewalk and watch his classmates have fun for an hour before his class went back inside to learn. _

_ Today was slightly different, however. A girl approached him and smiled down at him._

_ "Hi!" She said to him. Inuyasha was taken aback before looking up at her. She had long black hair and light brown eyes and was showing off her missing front teeth with her smile._

_ "Why are you wearing your Halloween costume?" She asked him._

_ "It's not a costume…" He muttered quietly as he turned away from her._

_ "Whatever. Do you want to play hopscotch with me?" She asked._

_ "I don't know how…" He said softly. The girl smiled and grabbed his hand. _

_ "Here, I'll show you." She said dragging him off to the section of the sidewalk with a hopscotch board painted to the concrete. "First, you throw a rock into one of the squares, then you hope across on one foot to that square." She said demonstrating. "Now, you throw your rock to a square and hop to it." _

_ Inuyasha did as he was told and landed in the square behind the girl._

_ "Okay. Now, I'm going to throw my rock again and then hop there and you'll throw yours again and hop too. The first person to the ten wins." She said throwing her rock and hoping to the next square. "I'm Kasumi Sato, by the way."_

_ Inuyasha tossed his rock and began to hop._

_ "What's your name?" The girl asked._

_ "Inuya-" Inuyasha started but lost his balance and fell, knocking the girl down with him._

_ Kasumi's face and right arm skidded against the concrete, leaving less-than-severe scraped on her arm and cheek. Kasumi looked down and caught sight of the blood on her arm and started to cry and scream. Teachers surrounding the area rushed to the scene and pulled Inuyasha off of the girl shouting at him._

_ "Get off of her, you monster!" He heard one of them shout._

_ "I can't believe he'd attack her like that…" Another said._

_ "I can. He's a half demon. What did you expect?" Another asked._

_ Inuyasha watched in horror as the teachers carted the girl away. He felt some one picking him up from the arm pits. _

_ "Looks like you're going to the principal's office, Taisho…" The voice behind him muttered. _

"It's okay. You weren't ever a five year old girl." Kagome smiled, placing the pancakes on the table. "Are you okay?" She asked noticing Inuyasha was staring off into space.

"I'm just worried…" He said quietly.

"About what?" Kagome questioned, sitting down across from him.

"I just don't want her to stand out. But I know her so well. It's all she's going to strive to do. She's like her mom…" Inuyasha sighed.

"How so?" Kagome inquired.

"Kikyou was the kind of person that didn't care what anybody thought of her. I know that's how _everyone_ claims they are, but this chick meant it." Kagome nodded. "We'd go out in public and she'd just be herself. Booze, no booze… whether Mayu was present or not she was always the same. People would look at us and just think we were the oddest couple because we stood out so much. Her for her slightly obnoxious personality and me for my… obnoxious looks and angry outbursts…"

Kagome nodded again. "Like the other night at the concert…?" She asked.

Inuyasha waved his hand. "That wasn't anger. I was just trying to protect your dignity." He mumbled, taking a pancake off the stack and putting it on his plate, drowning it in syrup.

"Inuyasha," Kagome giggled. "I'm an _angel_. I don't need my dignity to be protected. It's kind of indestructible."

"Yeah, but didn't you mention to Sango that you were concerned because you're becoming more and more human?" Inuyasha asked, his mouth full of pancake and syrup.

Kagome gasped. "Oh no. You heard that conversation?"

Inuyasha nodded, still chewing the whole pancake he shoved in his mouth while grabbing another. "Yeah. It really pissed me off. I mean, what does she know anyway?"

Kagome blushed. "You heard the bit about…" She trailed off.

"Yeah and for the record, I don't give a shit about Kikyou… at all!" Inuyasha said, though to Kagome it sounded as if he was saying it to himself more than her.

She just nodded and took a bite of her pancake as Mayu walked into the kitchen sporting a blue plaid skirt and a white oxford with a matching blue sash around the neck.

"Aww you look adorable, dear!" Kagome shouted looking Mayu over.

"Really?" Mayu's face lightened and she twirled around modeling the outfit for Kagome and her father. Inuyasha just huffed.

"Don't go flailing around like that, Mayu. I don't want all those boys after you just yet."

Mayu stopped twirling and stomped her foot angrily. "Daddy! Yuck! Boys are gross!"

Inuyasha smiled and turned back to his pancakes. "Damn right they are."

--

"She did a lot better than I expected…" Kagome noted as she and Inuyasha left the Higurashi Elementary School. Mayu had just run off and began playing with one of her classmates. Meanwhile, every other child was glued to their parents' legs begging to not be left in such a place.

Inuyasha grunted in response, keeping his eyes low to the ground.

"Are you okay, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, peering around at him.

"I'm fine! Do you have to ask me that question every time I don't respond to one of your bazillion asinine comments correctly?" He snapped turning around to face her.

Kagome furrowed her brow. "No! I'm just concerned because you constantly mope and sulk when something that could be upsetting happens!"

Inuyasha huffed. "Ugh, fine… yes… I'm fine. So sorry for yelling at you, Kagome… If only I'd seen it _your_ way." Inuyasha seethed sarcastically.

Kagome tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She decided starting an argument over nothing would be ridiculous. So, they walked in silence until they turned the corner.

"It's weird for me, too to see her grow up so much." Kagome commented. "I know that you're her father and I couldn't possibly understand how you feel. But it is kind of sad for me." She kept her eyes on the ground, expecting one of Inuyasha's blow ups. It was a big day for him and he had a habit of acting completely catatonic when provoked on such days. Inuyasha merely sighed.

"Look, I'm not in the mood for a heart-to-heart right now, okay? I have to go to work. Do you know the way to the apartment?" Inuyasha asked, turning around to face her.

Kagome looked around and nodded. "Yeah. Worst comes to worst, I know the way to Sango's."

Inuyasha laughed. "She'd probably rip your head off!"

Kagome smiled weakly. "Yeah… she probably would…"

"Alright, I'll be home later!" Inuyasha shouted, running down the street in the opposite direction.

Kagome nodded and waved pitifully looking up at the street signs. "Yeah, I totally lied again…" She said. "I don't recognize anything." She turned and walked down the street she hoped would lead her to Sango's.

--

By some miracle, Kagome managed to arrive at the Tanaka household without taking a single turn. She knocked on the door feeling quite accomplished. No one came to the door, however she could hear noises coming from inside. It sounded like a woman groaning in pain. Kagome knocked again.

"Sango?" She called.

"Oh my GOD! Somebody help me!"

Without a single thought, Kagome tore the door open and rushed inside to find Sango laying on the couch hyperventilating.

"Sango!" She rushed to the girl's side. "What's wrong?"

Sango shook her head frantically. "I… I don't know… I guess the baby's coming… but… it's too… early… and… Miroku's… at work… and I can't… get to the… phone!" She gasped. "I don't know… Kagome… I need you… to take me… to the hospital…"

Kagome nodded calmly. "Okay. Let me just call Miroku…" Sango grabbed her hand and squeezed every blood cell out of it.

"NO! TAKE. ME. TO. THE. HOSPITAL! NOWWWW!!!!"

Kagome's eyes bugged out of her head. "O…okay!" She said, grabbing Sango. "We'll have to get a cab, though. I walked here."

Sango rolled her eyes. "Of course!" She shouted as they reached the door.

Luckily for the two of them, Sango's house wasn't far from a busier road and a taxi just so happened to be driving by as they approached the curb. Kagome waved it down and let Sango into the car.

"Hasegawa Hospital, please!" Kagome said to the driver.

"STEP ON IT!" Sango shrieked. The taxi driver spun out onto the road and headed for the hospital.

--

A/N

I like typing in caps. I'm also rather impressed with my luck. I sent Mayu to some elementary school, then decided to look up an actual hospital in Tokyo to be the name of the hospital… well, Hasegawa Hospital is a few blocks away from Higurashi Elementary School. This made me very happy… even more so because of the name. Higurashi. Seriously, google map it.

Thank you all for the reviews. I'm glad people are still into Inuyasha. Makes me feel really good about loving Inuyasha again. Haha

Please review. I love to hear what my readers think.

Love always

Patche


	10. Slight Confessions

**By: **Patche

**Disclaimer:** Do not own Inuyasha… only this story.

**Slight Confessions**  
--

"Sango!" Miroku bolted into the room, dressed in his lab coat. "Sango, I got here as soon as I could…" He said, rushing to the woman's side and taking her hand in his.

Sango smiled weakly at him. "False alarm." She sighed with relief, patting her enlarged stomach with her free hand. "Just early contractions." She moved his hand up to her cheek. "Everything's fine." She finished weakly.

Miroku pushed her bangs away from her forehead and placed a light kiss on the skin he exposed.

Kagome sighed longingly watching the two of them.

"Kagome. You should probably call Inuyasha to come get you. They're putting me on bed rest, so I won't be able to show you the way to Mayu's school." Sango said softly to the girl waiting on her.

Kagome nodded and left the room heading for the payphones outside.

--

"Taisho construction…" Inuyasha mumbled into the phone.

_"Inuyasha, please?"_

"Yeah."

_"No, I need to speak to Inuyasha please…"_

"It's Inuyasha…"

_"Will you please go get him?"_

He let out a loud huff. "What do you need, Kagome?"

_"Oh… Inuyasha! Sango's in the hospital right now. I went over there and she started going into labor or something and I need you to be here!"_

His eyes widened in shock. "Oh, I'll be right there." He said, hanging up the phone and running from the construction site to the hospital.

"Hey, Yasha? Where are you going, kid?" One of his coworkers shouted to him just as he reached the edge of the site.

Inuyasha tossed his tool belt on the curb as well as his hat. "Sango's in the hospital. I'm just going to take a long lunch! Tell me brother I'll be back as soon as I can be!" And with that, he disappeared into the streets of Tokyo.

--

"So, what was the emergency?" Inuyasha asked stepping into the waiting room after being briefed by Sango and Miroku on the situation.

"Sango thought she was going into labor!" Kagome exclaimed from her chair in the waiting room. Inuyasha nodded and sat down beside her.

"Yeah, I get that. Why am I here?"

"Oh." Kagome looked down in her lap. "I had to let you know that I couldn't get Mayu after school…"

"Why not? Her school's just down the road from here." Inuyasha asked.

"Well, yeah. I don't know the way home. I didn't even know the way to Sango's!"

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow curiously as he looked at the girl next to him. "Then how did you _get_ to Sango's?" he asked flatly.

Kagome shrugged. "I walked around aimlessly until I recognized the house…" She admitted as a light blush creeped onto her cheeks.

Inuyasha rested his face in his palm. He felt bad. He had been so rude to her and didn't even bother to tell her the way. And she, because of his obvious bad mood, lied to not seem like such a burden to him. He didn't know why he had to act this way around her. Kagome just brought weird feelings up and reminded him so much of Kikyou and had that potential to be the greatest thing to fill the hole in both his life and his daughter's life.

"I'm sorry. You can go back to work, Inuyasha. I know I've been bothersome lately…"

Inuyasha shook his head and lifted it from his palm.

"Well not even just lately… this whole time." Kagome sighed. "I can find my mother or someone to stay with… if you really don't want me around…" Kagome gasped when she felt an arm reach up and wrap around her shoulders.

"No. Mayu needs you to stay. Hell, _I_ need you to stay."

Kagome looked up at Inuyasha shocked. Her hazel eyes were wide with confusion and excitement.

"You need me to stay?" She asked in disbelief.

Inuyasha nodded. "Yeah, I do." He didn't bother to explain and Kagome didn't demand him to. If that was the truth, she was more than satisfied. She smiled and leaned into him slightly.

--

"Awwwwwww!"

The sounds of Inuyasha and Kagome talking filled the speakers of the TV screen as several angels had circled around to watch their interactions.

"Izayoi, he's so sweet sometimes…" Ayame murmured, turning to the older woman behind her. Izayoi was sporting a soft smile as she watched over Ayame's shoulder.

Ayame let out a soft huff. "It's kind of sad, though…"

A girl slightly younger than Ayame peered up at her. She had long black hair and soft brown eyes. "Why is it sad?" She inquired.

Izayoi spoke before Ayame could answer her question. "Well, Rin, it's sad because Inuyasha and Kagome can't be together… at least not for very long. Once the masters figure out what's wrong with the portal, Kagome will be summoned back. And it looks to me like they're slowly falling for each other."

Ayame scoffed. "I wouldn't say its love yet. I mean, Kagome's always had some weird crush on the guy, but Inuyasha can't be in love with her. It's only been a month and they only just got on talking terms."

Rin let out a curious 'mm' while she turned back to the screen. "Maybe so. But, being Inuyasha's guardian angel and all… I've come to know him fairly well and…" She paused shaking her head. "He never acts like this around anyone other than Mayu. I don't think he's ever had the slightest desire to comfort another person unless it was his daughter. He wouldn't even comfort Kikyou!"

Ayame rolled her eyes. "Well, true, but Kagome's constant crying is probably getting on his nerves. He's just trying to shut her up."

Rin gasped. "Izayoi!"

The older woman took her focus from the television.

"Why is it that Kagome can cry?"

Ayame nodded her head softly. "Yeah, I was wondering that too… and all the lying all of the sudden. She shouldn't be able to do things like that."

Izayoi's eyes widened before she turned away from the girls, giving them a slight shrug for an answer. "I have to go back to watching over Mayu. Enjoy your little movie, ladies! Oh, and Ayame, Kira will be waking soon. You might want to get to it."

Ayame sighed and slumped her shoulders, detatching herself from Rin's television.

'I wonder how it is that Kagome can suddenly do the things human beings do when she is only an angel…'

--

Mayu bounced joyfully that night on her way home from school with Inuyasha and Kagome by her side.

"And then, Momiji asked me my name and now we're BEST FRIENDS! Isn't that great, Daddy?"

Inuyasha smiled, paying full attention to the sidewalk ahead of him.

"I felt bad, though for this one boy…" Mayu started again. "He had orange hair and weird green eyes and a tail! And everyone was ignoring him because he looked funny. I tried to talk to him, but he was really mean! He called me a mean name and then laughed at me when it hurt my feelings…"

"Keh! Don't let losers like that get to you… He can take his problems and stick them up his-"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted. "What on earth are you trying to teach her?" Kagome looked down at Mayu. "Mayu, he was mean to you because he probably thought you were going to pick on him or make him feel like even more of an outcast… If you want to be his friend badly enough, I'm sure he'll come around. He just doesn't know how to react to kindness when no one's ever bestowed any upon him…" Halfway through, Kagome forgot that she was actually talking to a five year old.

Mayu made a confused face "Oh… okay… So I should be friends with him?"

Kagome nodded and reached over to grab Inuyasha's free hand. "Yes, indeed!"

Inuyasha felt his heart begin to race at the contact, but didn't bother to look over at her. He knew what she was talking about when she lectured Mayu. It was some kind of metaphor for how people treated him all his life.

'Like that day at recess… that one brave girl that wanted to be my friend… the one person all throughout school that had the guts to talk to me…'

Why did she care so much?

"Yeah, Kagome's right…"

Mayu and Kagome both looked over at the silver haired man who still hadn't turned his gaze from the sidewalk ahead. "I'm sure he needs a friend, Mayu."

--

Inuyasha sat on the couch that night, digging through the cable menu for something interesting to watch when he stumbled upon it.

'THS Investigates: The Life and Death of Higurashi Kagome'

His eyes widened as he quickly selected the program, desperate to discover what it was that made this woman so remarkable and why she seemed to be invading his every thought lately.

He had noted that only recently had the fallen angel become a prominent fixture in his mind. The mystery surrounding her, her purpose with him and his daughter, that nauseatingly sweet nature she had about her, the way he'd feel guilty when she started crying…

She was the complete package, really… save for the 'not being alive' bit.

He watched the television flicker pictures from her childhood of her smiling face alongside her mother while some deep-voice narrator told her story as if he knew her personally.

"Hey, what are you watching?" Kagome asked, groggily stepping out of the shower and lazily wrapping a towel around her wet hair.

Inuyasha immediately changed the channel to the news station and turned to face the interruption.

His breath hitched in his throat. Never once could he honestly say Kagome inspired sexual feelings in him. Calling her gorgeous was an understatement, but she held a very graceful and very innocent beauty when he first met her. The woman standing before him now, dressed in nothing but an old skin-tight t-shirt and some very _very_ tiny shorts, did much more than inspire an erection.

It wasn't just her body, though. That hadn't changed at all since the first time he found her naked in the grass. It was everything about her. She was just…sexy.

'However wrong it is to think _that…_' Inuyasha thought to himself.

"The news." He muttered, turning away from her in a desperate attempt to hide his newfound fixation with her sex appeal.

"Oh…" Kagome replied softly. "Can I join you?"

'Of course you would…' Inuyasha thought to himself, grabbing the pillow next to him and holding it in his lap to 'make room for her'.

Kagome let her hair down out of the towel and shook it a little before tossing the wet linen in the laundry basket and taking a spot next to Inuyasha on the couch.

_"…and saved all of the puppies… What a sweet story, Akira!"_

Kagome looked over at Inuyasha, who seemed so intent on keeping his eyes glued to the screen. They were so close, though.

'I wonder what it would be like…' Kagome thought to herself. 'I wonder how it would feel to kiss him… What would he do?' She mentally slapped herself. 'Stupid! Why are you even thinking these thoughts?! He'd push you away, call you crazy, and get you out of his life as soon as he could. You know that…'

"Are you okay?"

Kagome snapped out of her internal argument with herself and looked up into those gorgeous amber eyes she'd been so fond of for the past five years of her existence.

She sighed before answering, deliberating whether or not she even wanted to talk. "Can I ask you something?"

Inuyasha nodded.

"What am I… to you?"

Inuyasha's eyes widened as a small, faint blush crept onto his face. He stumbled through his mind searching for words to speak, but he was drawing one of the biggest and most embarrassing blanks of his life.

She could have asked this _any_ other time and he was certain the answer would be much easier to speak out, but in his current _condition_, the only word that came to mind was "Hot".

Kagome furrowed her brow, taking in whatever he'd just uttered out. "What?"

"Uhh.. Uhh.." Inuyasha looked around frantically. "I mean, you're…." He started using his hands to push the words he so desperately needed to say out. "_I'm_ hot hah… Uh…" He had run out of steam.

Kagome sighed and turned away from him. "It's okay. I was just curious. Today in the hospital, when Miroku rushed in to see Sango and make sure she was alright, they kissed and just looked… happy. I don't know. It's probably some hormonal imbalance. Those seem to happening a lot to me lately." She looked down at her lap gloomily.

"I noticed." Inuyasha chuckled.

Kagome didn't bother with the fake smile in response to his comment. She was still trying to figure out what he meant when he could only say 'hot' in regards to his feelings for her. Not that being hot was a bad thing… It was just much shallower than she'd hoped.

"You're my friend, Kagome…" 'My friend that I now harbor very sinful sexual urges for, mind you…'

Kagome looked up at him, still maintaining her straight face.

"You asked what you were to me. That is what you are." Inuyasha answered what he assumed to be her mental question.

"Just a friend?" Kagome asked, mentally kicking herself the instant the question left her lips.

'What. Are. You. DOING?! Stupid, stupid, STUPID Kagome!'

"Well, I mean… Lately…" Inuyasha started. Kagome interrupted him, however.

"No, it's fine. I don't even know where that came from… It was just hormones, like I said. It's like I'm twelve years old again, I swear. It's ridiculous. I must seem so crazy to you right-"

Kagome was silenced by the sound of her name coming from the television.

_ "On a slightly less resolved note, the fifteen year court case against Higurashi Kagome's murderer has become the spark of interest once more…"_

Both she and Inuyasha tore their gazes from each other.

"…_as evidence that once proved Naraku Onigumo, or the _Scribbler_ to be innocent regarding her murder. This would only suggest that the man that murdered Higurashi Kagome years ago not only framed an already infamous serial killer, but also still walks the streets as a free man as he has been for the past fifteen years."_

--

A/N

Dun dun dun… I know you guys have a billion questions, so I'll steer you in the direction of questions I intend to answer in further chapters… If it's not Naraku, who on earth could have murdered Kagome? What the eff was up with Izayoi? Why is Kagome losing her mind? Who is Mayu's friend? Is Inuyasha in love? Find out in a few days… when I update again because I really want to finish this story. Heh

Please review. I love to hear what my readers think.

Love always

Patche


	11. Shippou and the Amusement Park

**By: **Patche

**Disclaimer:** Do not own Inuyasha… only this story.

**Shippou and the Amusement Park**  
--

Izayoi sat, perched atop her cloud as Mayu slept. It had been so long since she'd had a human to care for. It was even more enjoyable that the human she was to look after was her own granddaughter.

However, Izayoi had grown concerned for Kagome. Sure, she had thought Kagome going down to fill the void in her family's lives would be a great idea. Kagome was a sweet and good-natured girl. She hadn't expected Kagome to become less angelic, however, through her stay.

'She will become completely human soon… and then her body will fail… then she will return. She'll have to die all over again. How sad.'

--

Kagome's murderer was still on the loose. Inuyasha stood at the counter of the kitchen, recalling the broadcast he and Kagome had watched a few nights ago. He didn't know what it meant or why he felt on edge about the whole ordeal, but he did. Something just disturbed him. He had come to the conclusion that the source of his disturbance must have sprouted from the fact that Naraku Onigumo was not her killer. Naraku had a very obvious problem and went around killing women that had nothing to do with him. Which meant she wasn't killed out of spite.

But if someone else did… It's more likely that they had a reason to kill her and were sane enough to cover their tracks by mimicking those scribbles on her back.

"Inuyasha…"

The half demon nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of his name. Panting, he turned to see Kagome standing behind him.

"Jeez… what's up with you?" She asked. "You've been really jumpy lately."

Inuyasha sighed and shook his head. "That newscast has got me all worked up."

Kagome tilted her head to the side. "The one about Naraku?"

Inuyasha just nodded and Kagome pursed her lips.

"Well, he's still going to be in jail. I think they'd just lessen his sentence a little when they remove the charges for my murder. So, you can still sleep soundly. He's not coming back to town anytime soon." She said, cheerfully patting him on the shoulder.

"I'm not worried about that."

Kagome's smile faltered and she removed her hand from his shoulder.

"_Your_ killer is still out there. And you're always out on the streets now that Mayu's in school. What if they find you?"

He felt himself getting irritated with her confused stare. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Inuyasha… I'm already dead… I can't be killed again. Even if I could, though, I doubt whoever murdered me would try to. Whoever it was that killed me, tried to cover their tracks by framing Naraku. Fifteen years ago that was a little easier to do than it is now. Plus, I still have the body I did when I died. If they were concerned about me still living through that experience and telling the authorities, then they'd expect a woman in her late thirties, right?" She saw her words were less than convincing. Letting out a soft sigh, she brought her hand up to his cheek, forcing him to face her. "Thanks for being worried about me, though." She gave him a soft smile. "It means a lot to me."

Inuyasha returned the smile weakly but would still have this matter hanging over his head. He decided to shrug it off for now, though.

"So, what did you need, anyway?" He asked, changing the subject.

Kagome looked confused at first as she took her hand from his shoulder. Then he saw the realization flash in her eyes, "Oh! Right. Mayu would like to bring her friend, Shippou to the amusement park with us today. She said his parents will give him money for his ticket and everything, but Mayu's actually grown pretty fond of him over the past couple days and wanted to spend her birthday with him."

Inuyasha looked a little lost. "Who's Shippou?"

"The one with the red hair and the tail."

Inuyasha nodded. "Uh… I guess. Is she awake yet?"

Kagome shook her head. "No, she asked me that last night."

Inuyasha checked the clock. "Well, this is a little weird. She's usually up by five. It's almost eight…"

"She's six now, Inuyasha, which makes her a young lady, and ladies need their beauty sleep." She flashed him a precious playful smile. Inuyasha scoffed, but cracked a smile at her and pushed her lightly away from him. He watched her scurry off to Mayu's room to wake her up.

--

Inuyasha, Kagome, Mayu, and Shippou were a funny bunch to be seen at the amusement park. Shippou and Inuyasha stuck out with their odd hair colors and Kagome's absolutely clueless attitude towards the park made everyone stop and stare as they walked by.

"Ooooh!" Kagome gasped in fear when she looked up to a tall tower. There was a ring of seats around the top of the tower that had been spinning slowly in a circle. She watched horrified as the ring dropped and all the passengers screamed.

"INUYASHA! Do something!" She shrieked.

Inuyasha spun around only to find a horrified Kagome watching the "Mt. Olympus" ride.

"Kagome, it's okay. It's just a ride." He tried to calm her down as the ride slowed to a stop before hitting the ground.

Kagome breathed out, relieved to see it was supposed to happen.

"Gosh, what's wrong with your mom?!" Shippou asked in a whiny, stuck up voice in regards to Kagome's little over-reaction.

"Nothing, she's perfectly normal…" Mayu said to Shippou.

Kagome and Inuyasha both caught what Shippou said and noted how Mayu didn't explain that Kagome wasn't her mother.

"Have you ever been to an amusement park, before?" Inuyasha asked turning to her while Shippou and Mayu became engrossed in their own conversation.

Kagome shook her head. "I've heard of them and my friends went to them all the time, but I never had any free time to join them." She said, a hint of longing in her voice as she looked up at a ride that had to be at least fourteen stories tall. Crinkling her nose, she added "I think that it was for the best."

Inuyasha laughed and playfully slapped her back. "What?! You've never even been on a rollercoaster before. How can you say that?"

"I just really don't think it's something I'd enjoy…" She murmured watching as the coaster hit its peak, then plummeted to the ground. A loud collective scream was all she heard when it dropped.

"Shit, Mayu's got more guts than you…"

Kagome blinked. "What?"

Mayu nodded, butting into their conversation. "Yeah, Kagome. That's my favorite ride!" She said, pointing to a roller coaster off in the distance with twists and loops and turns and upside down harnesses for the passengers.

"We'll make our way there eventually…" Inuyasha said smiling. "And we'll let you experience a roller coaster, Kagome. Don't you fret."

Kagome frowned. "But…"

"No buts, woman. You're riding it. I will drag you all the way up those stairs if I have to. You have a horribly unjustified opinion of roller coasters and it's time to solve that."

Kagome shook her head, the fear protruding out her eyes. "Inuyasha, please…"

He merely shook his head, laughing maniacally.

Shippou turned to Mayu. "Wow, your dad is really mean to your mom…"

Mayu giggled. "I think he just wants an excuse to sit next to her."

--

"Inuyasha NOOOOOOO!" Kagome screamed, grabbing onto the rail. The roller coaster had arrived and was ready to take passengers. Mayu and Shippou had already buckled into their seats. Meanwhile, Inuyasha was trying to pry Kagome off the rail separating the lanes of traffic.

"Kagome! We've been standing in line for the past two hours! Couldn't you have decided you were going to chicken out _before_ you were going to get on?"

Kagome shook her head. "I… I did, but I thought I could give it a shot and now after watching it go by a thousand times, I can't! I'm going to fall out of the seat when we're upside down!"

Inuyasha let go of her wait. "That is not going to happen! They test these things all the time to make sure they run properly and safely. It'd be against the law if they didn't… Come on, Kagome. You're holding up the ride!"

Kagome looked at him, considering her options…

He stuck his hand out to her. "Please?" He asked, feeling a little pathetic to be begging a girl to ride a roller coaster with him.

Kagome sighed and took his hand, walking to their seats and strapping in.

Inuyasha noticed that after they had buckled up, Kagome was still gripping his hand. Her knuckled were practically white from all the force she was applying. Thank goodness he had strong hands.

"You can't let go, okay?!" Kagome commanded, staring in front of her. "I'll never forgive you if you do!"

Inuyasha chuckled and patted their intertwined hands with his free hand. "I don't think I could let go of your hand if I tried…"

The ride began to move. Kagome clenched her eyes shut and let out a soft whimper.

"Oh, Kagome. You don't want to close your eyes, that'll make it worse!"

"Huh?" Kagome asked, opening them as the roller coaster hit the top. She could see the Tokyo skyline from where she was. "OH MY GOOOOSH!" She shouted at the top of her lungs as the roller coaster dropped down and pushed with full force through the twists and loops on the way. Inuyasha raised his one free hand in the air and laughed at the poor girl next to him.

Kagome had her eyes slammed shut again and was cringing the whole time, waiting for the ride to be over.

Mayu and Shippou in the back were laughing joyfully throughout the ride, with both hands in the air.

As the ride slowed to a stop, Kagome heard the announcer's voice over the intercom. "Alright! Hope y'all enjoyed riding the 'Texas Twister'! Please exit to the left and enjoy the rest of your day!"

Kagome opened her eyes to see Inuyasha smiling.

"That wasn't so bad, huh?" He asked.

Kagome just glared at him. "That was the worst thing I've ever experienced! I'm never going to forgive you!" She shouted to him.

Inuyasha furrowed his brow. "Hey! I kept up my end of the deal! You keep up yours." He gestured to their still connected hands in the seat between them.

"Deal…" Kagome muttered to herself looking down. He held on… the whole time. He let her squeeze the color out of his palm for the whole ride.

Inuyasha let go of her hand as they stood up to get off the ride.

"Sorry." Kagome said softly. "I'm not mad at you."

Inuyasha smiled. "You better not be mad at me! Now you do not like the 'Texas Twister' and have every right not to."

Kagome cleared her throat. "No, I have every right to not like roller coasters…" She said as Mayu and Shippou crawled off the ride and stood beside them.

Inuyasha chuckled. "But, Kagome, all roller coasters aren't the same…"

--

"Daddy! Win me that dolphin! I want the dolphin!" Mayu shouted, pointing to an oversized stuffed pink dolphin hanging from the ceiling of a game kiosk. Kagome was in the bathroom. Inuyasha felt sorry for her after the first two times she threw up after riding a ride. By now it was just getting annoying, though.

"Ok, Mayu. I'll try…" Inuyasha said, handing the vendor five dollars for three darts and three chances to pop a balloon on the wall.

His first dart was nowhere near a balloon, and the second had actually hit the balloon and bounced back.

Inuyasha groaned in frustration, holding the last dart in his hand.

"Here, let me…" He heard Shippou say, grabbing the dart from his hand.

Shippou closed one eye and stuck his tongue out just barely as he focused in on a blue balloon.

"Alright…" He said to himself. "Blue balloon, you're gonna get it…"

Inuyasha quirked his eyebrow. "Does he always talk to himself like this, Mayu?"

"Shuddup! I'm trying to concentrate here!" Shippou shouted to the man behind him. The little boy drew his arm back and lightly thrust the dart right into the blue balloon. The collision was followed by a loud pop and a very happy girl.

The vendor smiled. "Which one?" He asked, gesturing to the stuffed animals on the ceiling.

"The dolphin, right?" Shippou asked, looking behind him. Mayu just nodded excited.

The vendor grabbed the stuffed animal and handed it to Shippou just as Kagome left the bathroom.

Shippou handed the dolphin to Mayu who eagerly accepted it and smashed it hard into her chest. "YAY!" She said giggling.

Inuyasha just huffed.

"What happened?" Kagome asked, a slight groan apparent in her voice.

"I won Mayu a dolphin." Shippou said proudly.

"Yeah, that _I_ paid for…" Inuyasha reminded him, still trying to feel like the hero.

Kagome smiled weakly. "Well, that was very sweet of both of you."

"Are you feeling any better?" Mayu asked Kagome.

Kagome nodded slightly, then grabbed her stomach. "Ugh… I knew roller coasters were a bad idea."

Inuyasha laughed. "It's really kind of pathetic, Kagome." She shot him a death glare as they rounded up the group.

--

"Happy birthday, Mayu!" Shippou said as Inuyasha pulled into his driveway.

"Thank you, Shippou." She beamed.

"And thank you for bringing me, Mrs. Taisho…"

No one responded. Inuyasha nudged Kagome. 'He means you' He mouthed.

Kagome shook her head. "Oh! Of course, dear. It was great to have you along!"

Shippou smiled and leaned over to Mayu giving her a light peck on the cheek.

"Night!" He shouted, jumping out of the car.

Inuyasha was fuming. "Why that little… I'm going to kill him!"

Kagome placed a hand on his arm. "Inuyasha, calm down… It was just a kiss on the cheek."

"OF MY DAUGHTER!" He shouted.

Kagome laughed. "This is too cute."

Inuyasha shook his head. "No, no… it's not cute. It's disgusting. It's like pedophilia!" He shouted.

"Except that they're both six years old…"

"That doesn't matter! She's too young for boys!"

"She's not dating anybody! He gave her a kiss on the cheek! That's hardly anything!"

Mayu sighed, letting the sounds of their bickering fade into the background of her mind as she softly touched the spot of her cheek that just moments ago, had been kissed.

She felt her cheeks heat up and a little smile grace her lips.

Kagome smiled, noticing Mayu's cheeks as the truck reversed out of the driveway.

"I think someone has a little crush…" She said quietly to Inuyasha.

"Yeah? Well I think _someone_ is about to lose his dick!"

--

"Happy birthday, Mayu." Inuyasha said softly, kissing her cheek before he stood up from her bed.

"Daddy…" He heard her call out softly. He turned to face his daughter, still underneath her covers and looking tired. "Do you love Kagome?"

Inuyasha stiffened. "Why?"

"I just was curious because when Shippou said Kagome was my mom, you didn't tell him she wasn't. And then on the roller coaster you were holding her hand and…" She looked down at the ground, not really knowing what else to say to prove her question valid. "I do and I just want you to too!"

He sat down on her bed once more and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Mayu, it's really complicated, okay?"

"That's not what I asked, though. I just want to know if you love her."

Inuyasha gave his daughter a pathetic look before smiling and looking down. "Yeah, I do…"

Mayu smiled and closed her eyes. "Good…" She mumbled as Inuyasha stepped out of her room.

"Oh shit!" He shouted, seeing Kagome standing before him, her eyes wide as saucers. "You were eves dropping?!" He accused in a hushed voice once he got over the initial shock of opening a door and seeing someone there.

Kagome remained silent.

Inuyasha let out a light scoff and closed his daughter's door, walking past her and nearly making it to the living room.

"Did you mean it?" Kagome asked him breaking the silence.

"What do you mean, 'did I mean it'? I wouldn't lie to my daughter…" He responded, not bothering to look at her in some attempt to save face in this situation.

Kagome sighed loudly and took a few steps closer to him as to not wake Mayu up. "You love me?" She asked. Inuyasha picked his head up slowly and gave her the same puppy-dog eyed look he'd given Mayu when she had asked the same question just a few minutes ago.

Why did he have to repeat himself so often?

"Yes…" He said guiltily. "Don't ask me why."

He felt a little shocked to see her smiling at this and rushing towards him and was still even more shocked when he felt her lips crash onto his. His eyes all-but bugged out of his head as he tried to comprehend what had just happened.

But just as he'd come to grips with what was going on, Kagome broke the kiss and looked up at him, placing her hand on his chest.

"Inuyasha…" She smiled softly.

Inuyasha didn't hold himself back. He ran a hand through her long black hair and pulled their faces closer, kissing her forcefully. Kagome responded eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck in an attempt to pull him even closer to her than he was. Inuyasha hungrily opened his mouth to deepen the kiss as he felt a small flicker of a tongue dancing on his bottom lip.

He let out a low groan and moved forward, pushing Kagome against the wall, removing his lips from hers and panting. He felt accomplished to see she was doing the same.

Kagome ran a hand through her hair as she tried to catch her breath.

"So…sorry…" He said softly, stepping away from her slightly. "I got a little carried away…"

Kagome laughed breathlessly and waved her hand. "No harm done…"

"I'm gonna just… go to bed…" Inuyasha said awkwardly. "Night…" And with that, Inuyasha disappeared into his room feeling happier than he had in a long time.

--

A/N

I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written… And I changed my mind about everything about a billion times. Let me just warn everyone for future chapters… I've been listening to that "Because You Live" song by Jesse McCartney for the past week and found it kind of really encompasses their relationship… haha. Don't hate me. I love that man. Anyway, if the dialogue gets cheesy and everything's overly mushy… you were warned. Also, I know some people had concerns about a lemon a while back. I don't write lemons… I mean, if something happens then you guys will be able to tell without all the disgusting details. The most I'm capable of is a PG-13 sex scene… maybe teetering on the R rating.

Oh and I've also been reading a lot of Rumiko Takahashi's new manga, _Kyoukai no Rinne_. I think it's splendid thus far! Though, the girl in the story looks exactly like Kagome would if she wore her hair in braids… and the guy looks just like Inuyasha without the dog-ears and short red hair. So, if Tohru Honda and Kyo Sohma from Fruits Basket and Inuyasha and Kagome all got together and had love children… it would me Sakura and Rinne. It's really cute. You guys should read it.

I think I'm done blabbering about nothing now. As far as this chapter goes… they kissed. Woo hoo! Hehe. And Shippou is adorable to me. I like him and Mayu.

Please review. I love to hear what my readers think.

Love always

Patche


	12. Kagura's Prediction

**By: **Patche

**Disclaimer:** Do not own Inuyasha… only this story.

**Kagura's Prediction**  
--

"I don't know why, but I can't shake this feeling like I'm going straight to hell…" Inuyasha muttered to his best male companion. He and Miroku were on a "man-date" while Kagome and Mayu went around town.

Miroku nodded in understanding as they passed a clothing store stocked full of clothes to satisfy any metro-sexual's style needs. He turned to Inuyasha, silently asking if they could go in the store. Inuyasha sighed. He had the feeling Miroku wasn't really interested in what he had to say.

"I mean, I _kissed _her!" Inuyasha said to try and emphasize his point. "Isn't that some kind of sin? I'm sure making any sexual advances to an angel would be… which means I'm doomed…" Inuyasha held his forehead.

"It's okay. I am, too." Miroku said, looking over very slim tight red button-up shirts. He held one out to Inuyasha. "You think this is nice?"

'I swear, these 'man-dates' make me feel gayer and gayer every time we go on one…'

"It looks like it's a girl's shirt." Inuyasha said flatly. "Kagome could wear that."

Miroku grinned. "You just want to _see_ Kagome in it, don't you Inu-kun?" Inuyasha huffed in response. "Well, listen," Miroku paused to place the shirt back on its rack. "I don't know how these things work, but if you want it then go for it…"

"What do you mean? There is no _going_ for it. She's dead!" Inuyasha felt like shouting at his friend.

Miroku shook his head, still keeping his eyes out for the perfect shirt. It baffled Inuyasha that they could even have this conversation while the person he was talking to was more intent on finding himself a shirt. "I mean, lavish it while you can. She'll be gone soon enough and you don't know when that time will come and neither does she. Her existence is just as fleeting as anyone else's."

Inuyasha nodded, leaning against the wall while Miroku made his way to the rack of purple shirts.

"Tell me, Inuyasha, did she work that tongue?" Miroku turned to him, beaming.

Before Inuyasha could run over to him to punch him in the face, Miroku's smile faltered.

"You know, you mentioned you were concerned about her gaining all these human qualities… You could go see that whacked-out sister-in-law of yours."

"Kagura?" Kagura was the wife of Inuyasha's brother. Inuyasha never knew when they got married. He wasn't exactly on friendly terms with his brother at that point, not that he ever had been. Kagura graduated from one of the most esteemed universities in the country with a major in astronomy. The woman was so extremely intelligent, it was almost scary. Yet, she'd chosen to pursue tarot card reading and paranormal studies as her career.

It still baffled him that his stoic and cold brother with no patience for anything or anyone could be married to a woman that spent her days bullshitting people's money from their pockets.

"That's the one." Miroku said happily. "I'm sure she could perform one of those séances to discover where Kagome's soul currently resides."

Inuyasha shook his head. "Miroku, she's a washed up fortune teller." The few times Inuyasha and Kagura had ever met; things didn't end up so pretty. One reason could have been that he and his brother never got along. Another reason would be that Kagura had a stubborn and very stuck-up view on things… even for a fortune teller.

"And Kagome is an angel that fell from the sky… What's your point?"

--

"But daddy! Why can't I come?" Mayu cried as Inuyasha and Kagome dropped her off with Miroku before they headed out to visit Kagura.

"Miroku really wants to see you, honey. He said he's going to take you to see that new cartoon that just came out. The one with the bunnies and the unicorns…"

"I don't want to see that movie… it's for babies! I want to see Action Crash 5!" Mayu whined from her seat in between Inuyasha and Kagome.

Inuyasha scoffed. "Mayu, that movie's PG-13! You're hardly old enough to watch it…"

"But I'm a big girl now!"

"You're six… that's not big!" Inuyasha shouted as they pulled up in Miroku's driveway. Kagome stepped out of the truck and walked Mayu to the door, leaving Inuyasha in the truck.

She knocked twice on the big oak door to his house and heard the shuffling and the sound of the deadbolts turning… all three of them.

Once the door finally opened and Kagome was greeted with Miroku's pleasant, cheerful face, she inquired about the deadbolts.

"After hearing the news of your killer being on the loose, I just can't be too careful, especially with Sango being home from the hospital finally. Who knows who it could have been…"

"Sango's home?" Kagome asked. "How's she doing?"

Miroku smiled and opened the door a little wider. "She's good. She's taking a nap right now. She'll wake up in time for the movie, though."

Kagome nodded and looked down at the child beside her. "Well, Mayu… We'll see you later, okay?" She said sweetly, bending down to give the girl a hug.

Mayu smiled and wrapped her little arms around Kagome's neck, before bolting off into the house.

"Bye, Kagome. Good luck!" Miroku said, closing the door. Kagome let out a breath and turned to walk back to the truck Inuyasha was waiting in.

"So, this is your sister-in-law?" She asked, after opening the door and climbing onto the black leather seat.

Inuyasha nodded, putting the truck in reverse and backing out of the driveway.

"Yeah. She's married to my brother. She got into all this tarot card reading junk when she was in college and _claims_ to have some extraordinary experience with paranormal things. She met him before I ever did, so I wouldn't know."

"You didn't even know your brother?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha shrugged. "My mom had told me I had a half brother, but the guy's almost twenty years older than me and hated my mom. He never came around to see me. I only actually met him a few years back when Kikyou was pregnant and I was desperate for a job. I saw Taisho Construction was hiring, thought it was a little strange that the place had my last name in its title. I went in to apply for a job and was rushed to his office. Some dude named Myouga was my dad's lawyer apparently and said I should own half the company alongside Sesshoumaru because I am his half brother and it was our father's company. There were a lot of legal issues involving the will, though."

"Like what?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha wrinkled his nose before continuing, "Well, my dad was dead before I was born… in fact, my dad had supposedly been dead for several years before I was born. That's a little odd, but I never delved into it. Anyway, because of this, I was not mentioned in the will because when the will was written I didn't even exist. So, in the will it says 'leave the company to my _kin_.'"

"Well, you are his kin."

"I wasn't when he wrote the will. That was Sesshoumaru's argument." Inuyasha turned to look at her. She blinked, growing a little angry with his story.

"That shouldn't matter, though. He was clearly referring to any kin, elsewise he would've just said Sesshoumaru."

Inuyasha waved off her side of the argument. "Well, I had a lot on my plate at the time, so I told them that I didn't want half the company. I just wanted a job. If they could just give me that, I'd stay out of all the legal shit."

Kagome nodded and pursed her lips for a moment, staring at the dashboard.

"You look like you're thinking about something…" Inuyasha muttered, looking at her. "What's up?"

"I know what happened to your dad." She said quietly, keeping her eyes locked on the dash.

Inuyasha raised his eyebrows in amusement. "You do? How's that?"

"Your mother told me the stories…" She said, trailing off. "It could actually help a lot with whatever I'm going through right now. I never even made the connection before."

"What are you talking about?" Inuyasha asked, stopping his truck at a red light.

Kagome cleared her throat before beginning. "Well, I'm not the first angel to ever fall to earth. In fact, it's actually a procedure the masters perform often. They'll send a different type of angel through the portal and down to earth to either perform a miracle or fulfill a wish of some sort… or just anything that's important enough."

"But not guardian angels? There are certain types of angels?" Inuyasha interrupted slightly mocking her and slightly in curiosity.

Kagome nodded. "Oh yes. We all have certain jobs to do. Anyway, these angels have been coming down to earth, making miracles all behind the scenes. When angels go through the portals, they make sure that once the angel lands on earth it will not be seen by anyone other than fellow angels."

"Why can we all see you, though?"

"I wasn't supposed to fall through. Angels have to be prepared to jump through and they also have to be the right angels to jump through, otherwise problems arise like in my case. I'm stuck here, slowly turning into a human with no was back other than death. The angels that are made to go through the portals don't have this problem. Once their task is complete, they simply go back up to heaven and no one knows they were here."

Inuyasha nodded, feeling a little ridiculous with this story.

"This thing that's happening to me has happened to two other angels so far. One being InuTaisho, your father."

"My dad was… an angel?" Inuyasha asked, quirking his face in disbelief.

Kagome nodded. "After your brother was born, he was in some terrible accident and died and was sent to heaven. Somehow, he slipped through the portal while one of the miracle angels was coming back and landed on earth in a very human form, much like I did…"

_It was a cold, rainy night. He opened his eyes to take in the sight before him. He was in grass… green, wet grass. He could feel it. He hadn't felt anything in so long. _

_ He looked up to see he had landed in front of a small cottage in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. The rain became more noticeable as he felt goose bumps crawl all over his exposed flesh. He watched a light turn on in the room ahead of him and a woman appeared in the window, looking at him._

_ She could see him?_

_ He saw her gasp, then disappear into another room. He assumed she was calling the police to come arrest the man that had suddenly appeared in her yard. He looked down at the ground once more. The _naked_ man sitting in her yard…_

_ But just as soon as the woman disappeared, she popped back into his line of sight through the front door, opening it to come outside. He noticed a white robe in her arms as she approached him._

_ "Excuse me?" She called to him from her porch step. "Sir, are you okay?"_

_ He stood slowly from his place on the ground and looked up at her frightened face. She must have seen his yellow eyes or his fangs or his white hair…_

_ He cleared his throat to speak. "Uh…" He looked around to see if he even recognized his surroundings. "I'm afraid I'm a little lost." He chuckled lightly. With that, the woman's frightened face had been replaced with a calm, yet incredulous look._

_ He took a few steps towards her, but made sure to move slowly as not to frighten the woman._

_ "Here…" She said, holding the robe out to him. "At least you won't catch your death. Do you… want to come inside?" She asked him. He could see she wasn't even so sure she wanted him inside the house, but something about him obviously made the woman feel like she could trust the man._

_ He smiled graciously and took the robe from her, pulling the sleeves over his arms and tying it around his waist. The woman moved back and opened the door even wider, inviting him inside._

_ He took in the surroundings upon entering the cabin. It was a small house with wooden furniture adorning its floor. He noticed a small fire blazing in the fireplace against the wall. The woman sat down at a table and gestured for him to join her._

_ With the light in the room, they had a much clearer vision of each other._

_ "My name is Izayoi." The woman said quietly. "Who are you?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the strange man._

_ "I am InuTaisho." He started._

_ "Very well, InuTaisho… What were you doing buck-naked in my lawn at ten o'clock at night?"_

_ InuTaisho smirked at her fiery attitude. "Well, Izayoi-san… I wouldn't know…"_

"Yeah, that sounds really familiar…" Inuyasha murmured.

Kagome giggled and playfully punched him. "Anyway, then they spent numerous hours together and eventually fell in love with each other… as expected and one thing led to another and you somehow wound up on this earth." Inuyasha looked over at her, smiling.

"What? No details?" He asked jokingly.

Kagome blushed. "If I knew them, I wouldn't share them with you, sicko!" Inuyasha laughed and dodged her attempt at hitting him for a second time.

"So, then what?" He asked once Kagome's arms had returned to her side.

Kagome cocked her head to the side. "Well, InuTaisho died… again… in another accident. Izayoi was devastated. She kind of lost her presence after that happened, she'd told me once. She felt so horrible because she knew you needed her, but she just couldn't bring herself out anymore."

"Well, they're together now, so all is well…" Inuyasha muttered.

"I don't know if they're together, though. See, InuTaisho is one of the 'big guys'. He's like the boss of all bosses and has complete control over the portal now. I don't know what he did to work up to that ranking, but he managed. Your mother's always lingering around the guardian angels. I don't think the two would ever come in contact with each other… But they might. I don't really know. It's mysterious that your mother still lingers around us even after the child she watched over died…"

"What about the other one?" Inuyasha inquired.

Kagome perked her head up. "The other what?"

"You said there were two angels that had fallen and become human. One was my father, who was the other?"

"Oh." Kagome shrugged. "I don't know who it was or what happened at all with them. I only know that after InuTaisho another angel had fallen through and become human."

Inuyasha sighed, putting the truck in park. Kagome looked up at the building they had parked in front of. It was clear they weren't in the safest area of town. Inuyasha opened his door and stepped out of the tuck as Kagome did the same, taking in the surroundings.

"Wow… Sesshoumaru doesn't care that his wife works out here? She could be in danger after dark. Inuyasha laughed.

"Kagura can take care of herself. Sesshoumaru knows that." They walked up to the door of the old, run down building, titled "Kagura's Predictions".

Inuyasha pushed open the wooden door and held it for Kagome before letting it fall against its frame. A light chime went off. Kagura appeared at the counter beside the door

"Ah, Inuyasha. You're early…." She murmured, looking Kagome over. "Sesshoumaru said you had a ghost problem… Was it really all that necessary to bring your girlfriend along?"

"She's not my girlfriend. She's the reason we're here…" He said, scratching the back of his neck.

Kagura let out a low 'hmph' before pursing her lips. "Very well, follow me…" She said, leading them to the back of the building and sitting across from them at a large oak table.

"So, what's the deal with her?" Kagura asked, looking bored already with the conversation that hadn't even begun.

"Well, I'm an angel…" Kagome said softly.

One of Kagura's eyebrows twitched in interest, but she maintained her cold and disinterested manner.

"An angel?" She asked with a scoff. "You fell to the ground and what not?"

Kagome nodded.

"Right…" Kagura said.

Inuyasha huffed and slammed his fist on the table. "Listen, Kagura! You work as a psychic telling people that because of the day they were born on, they will make more money than someone else. If you don't want to get paid, that's fucking fine! We can go. We didn't come here to convince you that Kagome fell from the sky. We came here to ask you why she's turning into a human and how we can get her home or keep her here… whatever we have to do!"

Kagome looked up at Inuyasha with wide eyes. Kagura merely snorted.

"Don't get your panties in a twist, Inuyasha. I was just asking the girl what the problem seemed to be."

Inuyasha grumbled and sat back in his chair, crossing his arms.

Kagura let out a sigh then turned to Kagome. "You're becoming human, then?" Kagome nodded in response. "There's no cure, so to speak. She wasn't meant to fall through the portal if she's becoming human. She's just going to live a very short life."

"Why short?" Kagome asked.

"You don't belong here. The god's will call you back the instant you lose your angelic qualities. However, since you were not meant to fall through the portal between our worlds, the portal won't just open up for you. You'll have to die."

Kagome nodded slowly. "So, once my body is fully human again, I'll have to find some way to die? How will I know that I'm completely human, though?"

"It's not in your hands. You'll know because the things that could kill you now that don't… will kill you. They'll keep coming until you're dead." Kagura spoke slowly.

"What kind of things?" Inuyasha asked.

"You plan to protect her?" Kagura asked, laughing pitifully at him. "This is fate, Inuyasha. She can't escape it. It'll be anything all the time. Drowning, car accident, house falling in, earthquake, electrocution… if it can kill someone it will come after her."

Kagome looked over to Inuyasha and noticed his eyes staring blankly at the table before him. She bit her lip before looking up at Kagura.

"Thank you… for all of your help." She smiled as she and Inuyasha stood up.

Kagura didn't smile in return. "Good luck…" She said to them as Inuyasha and Kagome left the building.

"Well that was a waste of time!" Inuyasha shouted once the door was closed behind them. Kagome merely sighed in response.

"She told us a lot, actually."

"Well, I'm just going to have to be careful with you… all the time." Inuyasha said, cracking his knuckles as he spoke and walked to his car.

Kagome gave him a weak smile. "Inuyasha, you can't protect me. This is the way it has to be…"

"Well, you said my dad lived long enough to be with my mom for a while… Who's to say it wouldn't work out even longer? Maybe this transition will take years…"

Kagome shook her head slowly. "Just don't worry about it. I'm not." She looked up and flashed him a weak smile.

"Keh! I don't care what she said. I'm going to at least try." He said as Kagome opened her door.

"Inuyasha!" He heard his name and turned around to face the person calling him.

He gasped at the woman that stood before him.

Her long, black hair was shining in the sun and her dark brown eyes watched him in complete shock.

"Kaede…" Inuyasha breathed.

--

A/N

Sorry for the lack of fluff… this chapter was a complete necessity to the plot, though. I wanted to thank everyone that reviewed that God-awful oneshot of mine. It was like two in the morning when I wrote it. Anyway, another update should be coming up soon… a very good update haha. I hope you guys liked this. Thanks for all the reviews thus far!

Please review. I love to hear what my readers think.

Love always

Patche


	13. A Death

**By: **Patche

**Disclaimer:** Do not own Inuyasha… only this story.

**A Death**  
**--**

"So, who is Kaede?"

Kagome, Mayu, Miroku, and Sango had all gathered around Miroku and Sango's coffee table discussing Inuyasha's relationship with the woman he'd just abandoned them to meet.

Just a day before, Kagome and Inuyasha had visited Kagura to ask about Kagome's fate as a human being. Inuyasha had clearly been upset about it all, but after they ran into Kaede, he grew even more aloof.

Sango touched a finger to her chin, looking at Miroku from across the table.

"Well, she's your aunt, Mayu." Miroku said, answering the small girl's question.

Mayu cocked her head to the side. "Like you are?" She asked Sango.

Sango sighed, thinking how to explain the situation in simpler terms. "Kaede is your mother's sister. Thus, she is your aunt. I'm your aunt because Inuyasha loves Miroku and I like a brother and a sister. We aren't technically your aunt and uncle, but Kaede is… Same as Sesshoumaru."

Mayu pursed her lips, thinking about their answers before continuing on. "Well how come I've never met her?"

"She didn't see a reason to come around once your mother walked out…" Miroku said, forgetting his audience. His head shot up once he realized what he said only to notice Mayu's pained expression. He then glanced over to his side and noticed his wife glaring daggers into his skull.

"I mean, she just never really had the time…" He said in a pitiful attempt to cover-up his previous statement.

Mayu merely nodded. "The only real person I have is my daddy." She said softly as she stood up and walked to the bathroom.

Kagome watched her, concerned for the girl as she heard a loud slap come from the other side of the table.

"What is WRONG with you? She's six years old!" Sango shouted at Miroku. "How can you be so dense and insensitive? I didn't marry a dense and insensitive man! If I wanted one of those, I would have married Inuyasha! Why would you say that to her? Are you going to say something like that to our children, you ass?!"

Miroku sighed and rubbed the assaulted spot of his cheek. "I'm sorry, Sango. I forgot who I was speaking to for a moment."

Sango huffed and marched off to the bedroom.

Miroku looked up at Kagome from across the coffee table. "Was she over reacting or am I really a horrible person here?"

Kagome shook her head. "I don't really know. I'm a little worried about Mayu, though. I'm going to go check on her." Kagome said, standing up and walking towards the bathroom.

Miroku sighed loudly. "I'm the bad guy again…" He muttered, standing up to chase after his wife.

"Mayu?" Kagome asked, knocking on the bathroom door. She heard nothing but silence on the other end of the door. "Mayu, can I come in, please?" She asked softly. Again, there was no noise.

Kagome sighed and was about to turn to walk away when Mayu opened the door behind her. Kagome turned around and peered down at the girl. Mayu's eyes had little red rings around them and her nose was turning pink.

"Mayu?" Kagome asked softly, stepping into the bathroom and closing the door behind her. Mayu sat down on against the tub behind her and brought her knees up against her chest. Kagome sat down beside her, mimicking her posture.

"It's just…" Mayu sniffled. "Everyone at school is always talking about their aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas and brothers and sisters and moms." She shifted her gaze to the ground. "I don't have any of that!" She wailed, sobbing into her knees.

"Mayu… that isn't true. You know that. Miroku and Sango might not be related to your father, but they are your aunt and uncle in your heart, right?"

Mayu nodded.

"And I know your grandma on your dad's side love you very much! I've talked to her many times about you. She always felt so sad about dying before you were born. I've never met your grandpa, but I'm sure he feels the same way." Mayu looked up at Kagome, tears brimming in her eyes.

"R…really?" She asked, sniffling.

Kagome gave her a comforting smile and patted her back. "Of course they do. I think it's impossible for anyone to not love you!"

Mayu smiled remembering her father telling her that so often. She looked up at the woman beside her and felt the tears welling up again.

"Mayu?"

"Why can't you just stay? I love you, I promise I do! And I know my daddy loves you! He told me!" Mayu shouted into her knees. It pained Kagome to see Mayu reacting like this. She'd seen Mayu cry many times, but until now it was never Kagome's doing.

"Who told you I was leaving?" Kagome asked curiously.

"No one did. I heard Daddy talking to someone on the phone about it." She looked up from her knees at Kagome. Her voice had calmed down.

Kagome nodded. "I'm sorry you heard that…" She said softly. She leaned herself towards Mayu so she was practically resting against the girl. "Mayu, I love you, you know?" She whispered, running her free hand through Mayu's hair. Mayu nodded pathetically. "And even if I'm not here, I'll still be watching over you. No matter what happens." She gave Mayu a weak smile. "If one night you just need someone to talk to, I'll always be able to hear you."

Mayu sniffled again as Kagome handed her some toilet paper to try her eyes.

"But I'm not leaving for a while, dear…" She said softly. "Your daddy won't let me…" She smiled down at Mayu, who returned her the gesture weakly.

--

"My sister died last month…" Kaede said to Inuyasha from across the table. They had decided to meet up in some dinky coffeehouse/bakery a few blocks down the road from Sango's. Inuyasha left Mayu and Kagome with Sango and Miroku just because he had no idea what he was in for with Kaede once she told him they needed to talk.

Inuyasha's eyes widened at the news he'd just received. Kaede maintained a cool demeanor as she spoke. Inuyasha found a spot on the table to lock his surprised gaze on as Kaede continued.

Kaede cleared her throat. "It's so sad. She really cleaned up and wanted to see you again." Inuyasha perked his ears up, silently letting Kaede know he was listening. "She was in this God-awful relationship with this man who never treated her right. She finally left him and moved in with me about a year before her death. We worked together to help her get her life back on track and actually made a lot of progress. She got a real job with a bank." Kaede shifted in her chair. "She wanted to come and see you… She told me that if you were still willing to try, she'd show you how much progress she'd made in her life."

"Well, what happened?" Inuyasha asked, finally finding his voice.

"Car accident… drunk driver…" Kaede said softly.

"Oh yeah? On which end?"

Kaede looked up and scowled at him. "Inuyasha, my sister died! She wished to see you and make amends with you. You don't have to react this way. You can be mature for once in your life…"

Inuyasha scoffed. "I need to be mature? Let me remind you, Kaede that I was the one that raised her daughter… BY MYSELF! Kikyou walked out on us because she wanted to fuck around with other people and act like a normal twenty-year-old would!"

"Oh, like you wouldn't…"

"I didn't!" Inuyasha shouted, silencing Kaede. Luckily for them, the restaurant wasn't very crowded. But those who were eating had turned their attention to the argument taking place only a few feet away from them.

"I told you, she cleaned herself up and she obviously regrets her decision to leave you two…" Kaede said in a hushed voice after noticing she and Inuyasha had the whole restaurant's attention. "You can forgive the girl, you know…"

"Well, she had six years to come reclaim her place in my life. I don't feel bad that she died right before she became proactive." Inuyasha stood up from his chair. He reached into his pocket and pulled out enough money to cover their bill. Tossing the money on the table, he gave Kaede one last nod and left the building.

He pushed through the door to the café and stormed off in the direction of Sango's house, completely enraged by the entire conversation.

It only upset him greater to hear that, from what Kaede had to say about Kikyou, Kikyou didn't seem too concerned with her daughter.

He'd reached the end of the block and turned to his left, heading down Sango's street.

He felt a little odd, though. Not too long ago, he knew he would have jumped at the opportunity to see a cleaned-up Kikyou that wanted him back.

It must have been all this time he'd spent with Kagome that changed his mind and helped him to see there were good people out there for him. They just had rapidly-approaching expiration dates.

Once he made it to the door, Inuyasha heard shouting coming from inside. He quickly opened the door to find Sango screaming at Miroku from the kitchen. Miroku just sat on the couch, half paying attention to her and half watching the television.

"Oh, Inuyasha!" Miroku said cheerfully bringing an end to Sango's rampage. She turned and looked at Inuyasha. Her face was completely red and she looked out of breath.

"What's got you all worked up?" Inuyasha asked the woman before him.

Sango let out a sigh and ran her hand through her hair, calming herself down. "He just enervates me…" She said breathlessly.

Miroku shrugged.

"Your daughter and Kagome are in the bathroom." Sango said, pointing in the direction of the aforementioned room. "They've been in there for pretty much the same amount of time that you've been gone…"

"Well, I wonder why…" Inuyasha muttered, walking over to the bathroom and knocking on the door. "Hey, guys. I'm back, so we can leave now!" He turned back to Sango and Miroku who were clearly ignoring each other. "What happened?" He asked them, not really expecting an answer from either of them.

"He's an inconsiderate asshole that just wants to abandon his pregnant wife and go sleep around with little high school girls!"

"I never once said that! You're making things up, you crazy woman!"

Inuyasha's eyes widened. "You slept with a high schooler?"

"I DID NOT!" Miroku shouted, just as the bathroom door opened behind Inuyasha.

"Sorry…" Kagome said softly. "We're ready now…" She opened the door a little wider to reveal the sleeping girl, lying across the rug.

"What happened to her?" Inuyasha asked, walking in to pick her up.

Kagome rubbed her eyes. "We fell asleep." She said giggling. Inuyasha held Mayu in his arms and gently tossed her over his shoulder.

"You slept with all this going on?" Inuyasha asked, bringing his attention to Miroku and Sango's fight that had started up again.

Kagome laughed. "Yeah… surprising, huh?"

"Alright… thanks for watching her…" Inuyasha said to Sango and Miroku as he and Kagome slipped out the door.

--

It was midnight. Inuyasha had been avoiding both Kagome and Mayu since they left Sango's. Kagome figured it had to have something to do with whatever Kaede said. She stood up against the kitchen counter, mulling over everything as she heard a door behind her open.

Kagome whipped her head around to see Inuyasha staring at her.

"Why are you up?" He asked in a raspy voice. Kagome smiled sheepishly and leaned herself against the counter to face him.

"I've got a lot on my mind, I guess." She said softly, giving him a slight shrug.

Inuyasha nodded and walked over to the counter beside her.

"What about you?" Kagome asked, nudging him playfully with her elbow.

"Same…" He said flatly, not bothering to turn and face her. Kagome ran a hand through her hair.

"What did Kaede have to say to you?"

Inuyasha scoffed. "That Kikyou wanted to see me again, but died before she could do something about it…"

Kagome gasped. "Kikyou died?"

Inuyasha nodded, walking over to the fridge and recovering a can of soda. He opened the can and took a swig before responding.

"Some car crash or something…"

Kagome's eyes softened as she rushed over to him. "Are you okay at least?" She asked, lightly touching his arm.

"Yeah… why wouldn't I be?" He murmured, brining the can back to his lips.

"I know you loved her, Inuyasha. You don't have to hide it just because you got your heart broken in the whole ordeal."

Inuyasha turned to look at her sharply. "What makes you think I'm hiding anything?"

Kagome ignored his question and reached down to interlace their fingers. She bit her lip, anticipating Inuyasha's response.

"Don't do that, Kagome…"

Kagome shot her head up to look at him.

"I don't want you to sit there and pity me for anything, okay? I'm fine. I don't feel sorry for myself…" He muttered. Kagome squeezed tightly against his hand.

"I don't pity you, Inuyasha. I just don't want you to be hurting." Inuyasha flashed her a weak smile.

Kagome's eyes widened and she quickly ripped her hand from Inuyasha's and rushed over to the counter across the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" He asked as she picked up a plate beneath a dome of foil.

"I almost forgot…" She said, placing the plate in front of him and removing the foil. He looked to see a circular chocolate cake covered in strawberry frosting. In yellow icing, someone had written "Happy Birthday, Daddy!". Inuyasha smiled.

"How did you know it was my birthday?"

Kagome shrugged. "It's clearly not from me. I don't usually refer to you as 'daddy'." She said smiling.

"Well, I know Mayu didn't remember it. She's lucky if she remembers what day her own birthday is."

Kagome laughed along with him. "I saw the little celebration about five times. After a while, I just kind of picked up on the date."

Inuyasha grabbed a knife from the drawer and turned to face the cake. "You want a big piece?" He asked.

"A little one is fine…" Kagome said as he began cutting. He handed her a piece that was about a quarter of the cake. "Or a huge one is also fine." She said taking the plate.

Inuyasha snickered and walked over to the table with his own piece of cake.

"Thank you." He said quietly as Kagome sat across from him. "I've had a rather crummy birthday."

Kagome frowned. "I know. It's really sad. Now it isn't even really your birthday anymore…" She said gesturing towards the clock. "So, I'm already too late."

Inuyasha stuffed a bite of cake the size of Kagome into his mouth before responding, "Beffew waye vab ebew"

Kagome laughed, taking another bite of her own cake.

Inuyasha huffed. "Better late than never.." He murmured.

"I understood, shockingly enough." Kagome said softly.

"Hey, how tired are you?" Inuyasha asked before loading his mouth full again.

Kagome pondered this for a moment before answering. "I'm not really tired at all. That nap at Miroku and Sango's really energized me."

"You wanna watch a movie?" Inuyasha asked, after swallowing his food. Kagome smiled and nodded in response as they took their plates over to the couch.

"What are we watching?" Kagome asked, sitting down beside him.

Inuyasha shrugged. "Whatever you want, I guess…"

"Oh, okay…" Kagome said, picking up the remote.

"Kagome, do you want to go back?" Inuyasha asked her before she managed to turn on the television.

She turned to him, confusion running through her eyes.

"I mean, I know I've been pushing the whole 'you staying here' idea… but I was just wondering if you actually wanted to go back."

Kagome sighed. "I miss it, but I'll be going back eventually anyway. Plus I really love spending time here with you and Mayu." She gave him a soft smile. "So, I'm kind of just taking complete advantage of the situation, I guess…"

Inuyasha laughed. "You're taking advantage of the situation by hanging out with me watching a movie on a Saturday night when you could be out partying or hanging out with people that actually celebrate their birthdays?"

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be…"

Inuyasha whipped his head around to face her and noticed her very serious face. She meant every word.

"Actually, there's been something I was dying to try…" She said, giving him a slight smile.

"What's that?" Inuyasha asked as Kagome leaned her head up to brush her lips against his. "Only this time, don't pull away when it gets intense…" She whispered.

He brought his hand up to her face and kissed her back with as much force as he could, pulling her as close as possible. Kagome in turn, pushed herself against him, keeping her lips suctioned to his and closing her eyes.

Inuyasha placed his free hand on the side of the couch beside her and began lowering Kagome down onto her back. He pulled away only to see if he had gone too far.

Kagome only looked up at him. "I told you not to pull away…" She said softly.

He chuckled lightly. "It's not that… I just don't want to go too far with this…" He ran the hand that was plastered to Kagome's cheek moments before through his hair.

Kagome sighed and let her head fall against the pillow below her. "Would it be so bad if you didn't stop… at all?"

His face reddened and his eyes all but jumped out of his head.

She felt her cheeks getting warm and her eyes widened as her hand flew up to cover her mouth. "I'm sorry! I don't know where that came from…"

Inuyasha shook his head, and leaned down to place a kiss on her lips. "Do you want to?" He mumbled against her mouth.

"Yes." She murmured in response as Inuyasha deepened the kiss, letting a hand rest on her hips while the other sat against her cheek.

Kagome moaned against his lips and reached her hands out to the rim of his shirt, lifting it from his back. Inuyasha pulled away, looking at her shocked.

"If you don't want to, I understand…" Kagome said softly, secretly regretting her decision to give him a chance to reject her.

"Oh my God, I want to!" Inuyasha said kissing her lips once more. "I just…" He mumbled, pulling away from her once more. "Are you sure you want to?"

Kagome nodded.

"This isn't just some onset of newfound human hormone thing running through your brain?"

Kagome giggled and leaned closer to him, resting on her elbows. "Trust me, it's nothing newfound…" She said kissing him again.

Inuyasha smiled against her lips.

"What are you saying by that?" He mumbled through kisses as Kagome pulled away this time and looked directly into his eyes before she spoke.

She let out a soft chuckle before continuing. "I've always loved you. Even before I came here…" She sighed, breaking her gaze after he took a moment to register what she'd just said.

Inuyasha reached a hand up to her cheek and gently stroked it with his thumb. "Really?" He asked, furrowing his brow.

Kagome nodded. "Sad, isn't it?"

He smiled and pulled her in for another kiss, reaching back behind him to pull his own shirt off as Kagome did the same.

They broke apart as they threw the shirts to the floor beside them and just stared at each other for a moment.

Inuyasha took a deep breath noticing the long scar that ran from her chest down to her hip. It was jagged and messy.

He traced over it with a finger causing Kagome to shiver.

"What happened here?" He asked, wondering how he didn't notice it the first time he ever saw her.

Kagome sat up across from him and looked down to inspect the scar. "I'm guessing it happened when I died. I don't remember ever getting a scar that big." She looked down at it, placing her hand on top of his.

"Is it gross?" She asked.

Inuyasha laughed and shook his head. "It's not gross at all. It's sad…"

Kagome cocked her head to the side. "How on earth is it sad? It's just a scar."

Inuyasha kept his eyes on the scar. "I don't like thinking about you dying. Especially not like that."

Kagome sighed and rested her forehead against his. "Then don't." She said softly, taking his lips with hers again.

--

A/N

FYI – Yes, they did it…

Eh… I really apologize for how random this story is getting. It's really hard to keep a hold of it. I shouldn't take year-long breaks ever again. My writing style changed over the year and it's hard for me to even remember where I wanted to go with this story back when I first published it. So, again, I'm so so sorry. I promise my next story won't be so scattered. And yes, I am already planning it.

Another thing I wanted to mention while I have you guys is… I really honestly, truly appreciate every person that still reads this story. In the past week, I've been reading a lot of Torenza's stories and I think she is a phenomenal writer. I just wish she'd come back. I read some of the reviews to her stories and it's just so sad to see how much her readers miss her. Not that I'm really comparing myself to her or anything, I just realized how sad it is to lose a writer that you enjoy like that… So, I am grateful! Thank you everyone!

You know what else is depressing? The fact that I'm like the only soul left that still really really loves Inuyasha…

Please review. I love to hear what my readers think.

Love always

Patche


	14. An Old Friend

**By: **Patche

**Disclaimer:** Do not own Inuyasha… only this story.

**An Old Friend**  
**--**

Kagome blinked her eyes open slowly as the sunlight filled the room around her. She squinted, groggily, taking in the surroundings. A black bedspread, a dark brown dresser, a window.

'I don't remember falling asleep in here…' She thought to herself, sitting up. She gasped after looking down to find she was completely naked.

"Go back to sleep…" She heard a rather familiar voice mumble from beside her.

"Inuyasha?" She whispered, looking down to find his silver hair draped across his pillow. His eyes were shut and his face held a calm and peaceful look.

'Oh my gosh… it wasn't a dream…' Kagome brought a hand up to her mouth in realization of the event s that occurred the previous night. 'I had sex with him… oh my goodness!'

"It's too early…" He mumbled again, breaking Kagome from her reverie. He reached an arm out and snaked it around her, pulling her closer to him.

"Inuyasha, how did we get in here?" Kagome whispered again, lowering herself to lay beside him.

"I carried you in here last night." He still didn't open his eyes or add any energy to his voice.

Kagome smiled. "Thank you…" She murmured, idly curling a lock of silver hair around her finger. "That was sweet of you…"

"You don't weigh very much, so don't worry about it."

Kagome sighed and cuddled into him, pressing her forehead against his bare chest.

"What time is it?" Inuyasha groaned, opening one eye to peer at Kagome.

"Umm" Kagome rolled over onto her other side to glance at the clock on the nightstand beside the bed. "It's about six…"

"Ugh, go back to sleep!" Inuyasha closed his eyes and wrapped an arm around Kagome once again. He leaned up to place a soft kiss on her lips before letting sleep envelop them.

--

"NOW I'm going to Hell…" Inuyasha sat on his kitchen counter after waking up that morning. Miroku had stopped by early in the morning to drop off some of Mayu's toys she left at his house the previous day.

"Yeah. I'm not going to argue with you there… But wow, score, Inuyasha! I mean, I may have a nice collection of v-cards, but angel-humping?" Miroku shook his head, smiling. "That's got to be like some branch of pedophilia!"

"I really hate the way you talk…" Inuyasha said flatly.

"So, where is she?" Miroku asked, looking around the apartment for Kagome.

"She left with Mayu to go grocery shopping…" Inuyasha grumbled as Miroku walked over to the fridge to inspect its contents.

"Was it awkward this morning?" He asked, curiously opening the door.

Inuyasha shook his head. "No. It was fine. We already had all those confessions anyway... It was just like I'd always woken up next to her, ya know?" Inuyasha smiled, getting lost in his own thoughts.

"Woah woah woah, buddy! Inuyasha, you're in love with her?" Miroku slammed the door shut after finding nothing appetizing in Inuyasha's refrigerator. He turned to face the love-struck half demon before him. "You are some kind of idiot…"

"I am not an idiot! It can't really be helped. I tried to not fall for her, I really did. I ignored her for practically a month! You were all excited about the news that I slept with her."

Miroku sighed. "Yeah. Having sex is one thing, falling in love is a totally different game…"

"Only in your world…" Inuyasha muttered.

Miroku opened his mouth to retort just as his phone began to ring. He dug into his pocket and pulled out the phone. He glances at the screen and flipped it open before holding it up to his hear.

"Well, good morning, my lovely…" He started. Inuyasha laughed just before Miroku's face fell. "What? Okay, okay… just calm down! I'll be there in five seconds!" He shouted, shutting the phone.

Inuyasha cocked his head to the side.

"Sango's water broke!" Miroku shouted, frantically searching for his keys. "Can you take me to the house?"

"Calm down, spaz…" Inuyasha muttered, grabbing his car keys from the coffee table. "She's going to be okay." Miroku stared blankly at Inuyasha.

"I'm sure you were this calm when Kikyou went into labor, right?"

Inuyasha laughed. "Well, I don't know what to do about Kagome and Mayu…" He said, grabbing his chin. Miroku let out a loud huff and scrambled for a piece of paper and a pen.

He found a tablet in one of the drawers and quickly scribbled down some words, before grabbing Inuyasha's arm and pulling him out the door.

Miroku rushed to the passenger door of Inuyasha's red truck, giving his Mercedes parked on the street one last look. "I can't believe it… this is really happening…" Miroku said more to himself than Inuyasha as the half demon climbed into the truck.

"Yeah, big moment, pops!" Inuyasha laughed, playfully punching Miroku's arm as they pulled out of the driveway. "What did you write on the note for them?" Inuyasha asked as they pulled onto the main road.

"I just said, 'Kagome, Sango is having baby. Took Miroku to hospital. Meet us there if you want. Love Inu-kins!' Miroku flashed him a cheesy grin.

"I should hit you…" Inuyasha grumbled.

"I only put down in words what your heart so desperately wanted to say…" Miroku said playfully.

"I have no problems saying what I need to say, thank you." Inuyasha huffed.

Miroku scoffed. "Whatever! You're probably the farthest thing from a romantic…"

"You say it like it's a bad thing…"

"It kind of is…" Miroku pursed his lips. "You keep all these feelings bottled up inside and no one ever knows how you really feel. You miss out on so many women and so many opportunities…"

"Keh! I ain't missing out on anything, trust me…"

Miroku raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Our little Kagome is just _that good_?" He asked, laughing at himself the instant the question left his lips.

"Quit talking about her like that."

"Well, you had sex with her. I don't see where the problem is in sharing details."

"What happened last night in _detail_ is for me and Kagome… no one else."

Miroku nodded. "Fair enough…" He paused, noticing they were still driving down the same highway. "How much farther is my fucking house?" Miroku asked.

"We're almost there. Chill out, princess…"

--

Kagome and Mayu walked into the apartment after their trip to the grocery story. Mayu had offered to carry the milk jug in while Kagome grabbed the rest of the bags.

"Just put the milk in the fridge." Kagome said, closing the door behind them.

Mayu opened the fridge and placed the jug on one of the shelves while Kagome began unloading the food from the bags.

"Where's your dad?" Kagome asked, noticing he wasn't around.

Mayu picked up the note left on the counter. "I don't know. Is this from him?" She asked, holding it up to Kagome. The woman grabbed the note from Mayu and began reading it.

"Oh my goodness… we have to go!"

"Why? What's wrong?" Mayu asked.

"Sango's having her baby."

Mayu grinned from ear to ear. "Are we going?" She asked. Kagome nodded, quickly placing the groceries in their correct places and grabbing the house key from the counter.

"We'll have to walk, though. I don't know why they took Inuyasha's truck…" Kagome murmured to herself as she and Mayu darted out the door.

"How far of a walk is it?" Mayu whined just as they'd made it to the road.

"I'm not sure. Do you need me to carry you?" Kagome asked. "I can give you a piggy back ride."

Mayu nodded eagerly and wasted no time climbing onto Kagome's back once she lowered herself for Mayu.

Kagome mentally groaned once Mayu climbed on. 'Yeah… you're going to be able to do this all the way to the hospital…'

--

"Sango!" Miroku shouted, running into the house to find his wife on the couch, groaning in pain.

"M…Miroku… Let's go…" She strained to sit up.

Miroku darted to her side and helped her to stand. "Are you going to be okay?" He asked.

Sango gripped his hand, giving it a painful squeeze.

"I think so…" She said breathlessly as Miroku led her out of the house.

"Alright, Inuyasha's in the truck. We'll be there in no time." Miroku said, helping his wife out the door. Sango grunted.

"Where's the car?" She asked, noticing the bright red truck sitting in their driveway as opposed to their Mercedes.

"I couldn't find the keys in time, so it's at Inuyasha's…" Miroku said, softly. "But everything will be fine. Inuyasha's driving us. Kagome and Mayu are on their way to the hospital… all will be well." Miroku gave her a comforting smile.

Sango's breathing hitched as they reached the truck. "Oh… okay…" She said painfully, stepping inside.

Inuyasha watched as Sango climbed in before Miroku and buckled herself in.

"You better drive…" Sango said, glaring at him. Inuyasha quickly put the truck in reverse and slammed on the gas, just before Miroku had made it all the way in the truck

"Hey, hey!" Miroku shouted, closing the door as Inuyasha drove down the street in a maniacal manner.

"Well, your wife's little death glare really freaks me out… Sorry, Miroku." Inuyasha grumbled.

Miroku smiled and put his seatbelt on. "No problem at all, sir. I know exactly what you mean about those death glares. Try sleeping at night knowing that's right next to you!" Miroku laughed. Sango punched his right arm, leaving a large red mark on his skin.

"I have no problem taking out all this pain out on you…" She said through clenched teeth. "It is after all, your fault!" Sango let out a groan of pain and placed a hand on her stomach. "Oh God!"

Miroku stiffened for the remainder of the ride to the hospital.

"I think you both need therapy…" Inuyasha grumbled from the driver seat. "That poor child."

"SHUT UP!" Sango shouted to Inuyasha.

--

"Okay, Mayu…" Kagome groaned. "I don't think I can carry you like this anymore. It's only a few more blocks. Do you think you can walk?"

Mayu sighed. "I guess…" She mumbled disappointed in Kagome's lack of endurance.

Kagome squatted down and let Mayu off her back, but promptly grabbed the girl's hand.

"I'm sorry. I'm not as strong as your daddy is. And I didn't think it would be this far."

"It's okay. I understand." Mayu said softly.

Kagome looked out ahead of them and saw a rather familiar face heading their direction. Actually, this was a very familiar face. She looked out to get a better look. As the sun shined down on him, Kagome noticed his light red hair and big green eyes which were locked on her in a state of bewilderment.

'Houjo…' She thought as he neared her.

Kagome bit her lip momentarily wondering if she should try to hide herself. He'd already seen her though and she could practically hear him swearing up and down he had lost his mind.

"Houjo…" Kagome said once they approached each other. The man in front of her looked her up and down, his mouth refusing to close.

"How do you…?" He started. "Ka…Kagome?"

Kagome smiled sheepishly.

Houjo shook his head. "I don't understand, Kagome. You're dead! How is this even possible?" He reached out to touch her face. "You are Kagome, right? I'm not going completely crazy, am I?" He chuckled realizing his mind could have just been playing a trick on him.

Kagome laughed. "No, it's really me."

"I don't believe this… I mean, Kagome! I have to be asleep right now. You don't even look any older than you did the day you died. How… How are you here?"

Kagome sighed. "It's a complicated story, Houjo."

He nodded, noticing Mayu beside her. "Who's this?" He asked, flashing the girl a soft smile.

Mayu grinned back at the man. "I'm Mayu! Kagome is my guardian angel!" She shouted, beaming.

Houjo blinked and looked back up at Kagome. "Angel?"

"Like I said, it's a really complicated story."

Houjo continued to stare at her, completely shocked.

"We should probably get… going…" Kagome said. "Our friend is having her baby today."

Houjo nodded. "Right. Well, Kagome… Umm…"

"Maybe I could explain things… some other time?" Kagome asked. "We could have lunch?"

"Uhh…" Houjo blanked for a moment. "Sure. Tomorrow?" He asked.

"Sure! Meet me at Sakura's at noon!" Kagome chimed cheerfully.

"Will do." Houjo muttered, walking away from them. Kagome watched as he disappeared from her line of vision. She sighed longingly.

"Kagome?" She looked down to the girl currently attached to her arm. "Who was he?"

"An old friend of mine…" Kagome said, biting her lip.

--

"Geez took you guys long enough!" Inuyasha stood in the waiting room as Kagome and Mayu walked in. Mayu ran up and gave Inuyasha a hug while Kagome stood back, mulling over her run-in with Houjo.

"Is Auntie Sango okay?" Mayu asked. "Do I have a baby brother yet?"

Inuyasha laughed. "Sango's fine. She hasn't had the baby yet, but it'll be your cousin, not your brother."

"What's the difference?" Mayu asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Well, a brother or sister would have to come from me."

"Oh…" Mayu said not really understanding what he meant.

Inuyasha sat down next to Kagome, pulling Mayu into his lap.

"You find it okay?" He asked Kagome. She nodded slowly, keeping her gaze on the ground before her.

'Oh, God… is this about last night?'

"Are you okay?" Inuyasha asked. Kagome lifted her head and turned her hazel eyes to lock onto the golden orbs.

"I'm fine." She said softly, giving him a weak smile.

"We ran into Kagome's friend _Hobo_ on our way!" Mayu said.

"You ran into a hobo?" Inuyasha asked Kagome.

She laughed. "No, we ran into Houjo… My ex fiancée."

Inuyasha's eyes widened. "Oh… Bet that freaked him out, huh?"

Mayu laughed. "Yeah. He thought he was going crazy!"

Inuyasha laughed along with her, but noticed Kagome's forlorn look that seemed permanently etched on her face.

Just before he had the chance to open his mouth to ask Kagome what was wrong, they heard Miroku come running into the room.

"It's a boy!" He shouted excitedly. "Oh my God, it's a boy!"

The three of them all gave him big smiles.

"YAY!" Mayu shouted, jumping off her father's lap and up to Miroku to hug him.

"You want to come meet him?" He asked Mayu, picking her up. She nodded eagerly just before being carried off to the room with her uncle.

Kagome smiled politely. "Well, that's nice. I think they need a boy…"

"Is this about last night?"

Kagome turned to face the half demon. His smile had faded. His face held nothing but guilt.

"Are you regretting it?" He looked down away from her. "I mean, it's fine if you do… Whatever."

Kagome sighed softly and placed her hand over his.

"Last night was amazing, Inuyasha. I don't regret any of it…" She said softly.

"Then why are you all mopey?"

"I'm just worried about running into Houjo. I didn't want you to know, actually." Kagome admitted guiltily.

"Keh! Why would you keep something like that from me?"

Kagome looked up at him, "I didn't want you to think that anything was happening when I go to see him tomorrow." She turned her gaze.

"You're going to see him tomorrow?"

"Just for a quick lunch. He was my fiancée, Inuyasha! I don't think it would be too horrible to know how he's been. I didn't want you to be jealous." Inuyasha scoffed. "I've seen you get jealous."

He smirked cockily at her remark. "Just make sure he keeps his hands off you and I'll be fine…"

Kagome smiled and turned away from him for a brief moment. Like she would let Houjo touch her. She was actually rather surprised by how little Houjo affected her. She always imagined, at least throughout her time on earth, how things would be if they were to run into each other. Would she cry? Would her heart race like it did when she first saw Inuyasha?

He was practically a stranger. She felt nothing when she saw him. In fact, she almost felt a little angry and annoyed that he spotted her. She didn't exactly know where that had come from.

"Was last night really amazing?" Inuyasha broke Kagome's reverie as he fished for an ego boost from the girl.

She giggled. "I'm not here to stroke your ego you know."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "No, we'll wait 'til we get home for that."

Kagome laughed and reached over to punch him again. Inuyasha blocked her however and pulled her arm so she was leaning over him. Kagome turned her head to face him as he slammed his lips against hers.

She smiled and closed her eyes, reaching up to kiss him back. Kagome locked her arms around Inuyasha's neck just as he pulled away.

"Oh my gosh!"

They both turned to the ground to see little yellow eyes staring and a soft blush gracing the cheeks beneath them.

--

A/N

Okay, I'm not the only soul that still enjoys Inuyasha. I just think it's sad to know how much the fandom has died down recently.

Alright well… this story is actually probably about to be wrapped up in the next couple chapters. I'm sorry to those of you that love it. Fret not, loves. I am actually already planning a new story. Yes, this one will be PLANNED unlike all the other ones with completely random twists and turns and year-long breaks that leave me stuck whenever I come back. It's a sweet one. I hope you all will read it.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Like I said, this story is coming to a close, but we're not there yet. I still have so many things to solve. And yes, to those of you that keep reminding me that there is another angel that fell to earth, you WILL know who that is by the end of the story…

Please review. I love to hear what my readers think.

Love always

Patche


	15. The Truth

**By: **Patche

**Disclaimer:** Do not own Inuyasha… only this story.

**The Truth**  
**--**

"Mayu?" Inuyasha asked, looking down at his bashful daughter before them.

"You guys were kissing!" Mayu said, stating the obvious. She smiled. "Does that mean… Kagome's my mommy?!"

"Well… you see… Mayu…" Kagome started.

"Yes." Inuyasha said, interrupting Kagome. He turned to face the shocked woman beside him. "It does…"

"YAY! I'm going to go tell Miroku and my new baby brother!" Mayu said, running off.

Inuyasha rubbed his forehead. "Cousin…" He mumbled as Kagome jabbed him in the side with her elbow.

"What are you doing?" She snapped. "You can't tell her something like that!"

"Sure I can. I'm her father. I'm allowed to tell her whatever I want…" Inuyasha stated matter-of-factly.

"Inuyasha, she'll be crushed when I leave, though." Kagome said, sadly turning her attention to her lap.

"She'd be crushed either way." Inuyasha scoffed. "I don't see why it matters. You practically are her mother already. You're the only woman that's ever been in her life aside from Sango."

Kagome felt her lip stiffen. "I just don't want to hurt her anymore than she's already been hurt."

Inuyasha placed a hand over hers. "At least you made her happy, though, right?" Kagome looked up at the man beside her curiously. "You know… Mayu was just… I mean, she was happy. We had a great time together. But since you've been here, she's almost matured right before my eyes. She's just so much more comfortable with people and situations now." He shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just talking out my ass, probably. But whatever change you sparked in my daughter was for the best."

Inuyasha gave her hand a slight squeeze.

"The changes you made in both of us were for the best…"

Kagome smiled and leaned into him,

"Thank you." She whispered softly. Inuyasha brought his lips to the top of her head and gave her a soft kiss before he spoke.

"I think we should go meet that new baby brother of Mayu's now…" He joked, standing up. Kagome nodded and joined him.

"Oh, right…" Inuyasha said, his eyes widening.

"What is it?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha pulled a box from his pocket and handed it to Kagome. "I got this for you a couple days ago, but I just kept forgetting about it and left in it my truck for the longest time. Here…" Inuyasha said, holding the box out to Kagome.

"What is this?" She asked, graciously taking the box from his hands. She opened it up and dug inside to find a small square… thing…

"It's a cell phone." Inuyasha said. "I set you up a plan so that if anything happens, you can call me or at least the police or an ambulance or something."

"Oh…" Kagome said, toying with the phone for a moment. "How does it work?"

"You just open it up…" Inuyasha said, flipping the phone open. "And you can access your address book from the home page." He said, clicking on the address book. "You can make a call by hitting this button." He said pointing to the green circle. "To hang up, you press the red button. And if you need to turn the phone off, just hold that red button down for two seconds. But don't ever turn your phone off." Inuyasha said, handing it back to her.

"I don't know your phone number, though." Kagome said.

"I already put it in there." Inuyasha stated.

"Is it under 'Inu-kins'?" Kagome asked. Inuyasha's face reddened.

"I didn't right that note, okay?!" He shouted. Kagome laughed. "That was all Miroku's doing!"

--

The next day, Inuyasha and Mayu decided to visit Sango and Miroku after Kagome had left for her date. Mayu was already obsessing over her new cousin and always wanting to see him and play with him even though he wasn't even twenty four hours old.

Mayu was tuckered out after Sango put her son to sleep. Sango offered to let the little girl use her bed to take a nap in while she watched 'Beauty and the Beast' for the thousandth time in her life.

"I can't believe you and Kagome would have sex, Inuyasha." Sango said, leaving the nursery and stepping back into the living room with Inuyasha and Miroku. "I mean, how much of a sin is it to take an angel's virginity… out of wedlock?" She looked at Miroku shaking her head angrily.

Inuyasha opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted.

"Well, he didn't actually take Kagome's virginity, you know." Miroku said.

"What?" He snapped his head in Miroku's direction.

"Kagome and Houjo had sex before she died… but I don't know if it was restored when she died or anything…" Miroku trailed off.

"How do you know this?" Sango asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She had that miscarriage a few months before she died. You remember it on the documentaries, right?" Miroku asked Sango.

"Right…" Sango gasped.

"Wait! What are you guys talking about?!" Inuyasha shouted.

"Kagome had a miscarriage a few months before she died. It actually was really weird. Miscarriages usually occur during the first trimester, this one happened during the second, however…" Sango said. Her expression fixed in a state of bewilderment. "It was a complete mystery, though. No one could figure out why it happened. Kagome was healthy…"

"And it was the catalyst in ending her once happy relationship with Houjo." Miroku finished. "Which is why it's odd that she'd be so willing to go to lunch with him."

"Kagome told me she doesn't remember the things that happened right before her death." Inuyasha clarified.

Sango let out a 'hmm'. While Miroku just scratched his chin.

"What the fuck, guys!" Inuyasha shouted. "Quit with the contemplating and tell me what's going on."

"Sorry, Inuyasha. It's just that in one of the more recent documentaries we watched, they mentioned the downfall of Kagome and Houjo's relationship. It all began with that miscarriage. In fact, I remember seeing something about Houjo just becoming a complete ass with her." Miroku said, still staring at the ground.

"Her mother had an interview where she mentioned that Houjo kicked Kagome out of the house telling her something along the lines of 'you killed my son, I can't even stand to look at you, you monster…'"

Inuyasha's eyes widened. 'Kagome wouldn't remember Houjo treating her so horribly because she died so soon afterward. So she willingly went to lunch, thinking he was only her former fiancée that wanted to catch up. But why would Houjo ask her to lunch if he hated her so much?'

Miroku and Sango seemed to be coming to their own conclusions as well.

"Then there was the night he asked her to come back…" Sango started. "Houjo had been playing all sorts of sweet and told Kagome things would be different… Then a few days after she moved back, she was murdered in her home."

"This is what the Scribbler did. He typically murdered women in their homes after following them there…" Miroku said. "However, that day, Kagome didn't leave her house. The only one that knew she was there was…" Miroku trailed off, as he and Sango looked at each other in sheer panic.

"FUCK!" Inuyasha shouted, darting up from the couch and running out the door to his truck.

"Inuyasha!" Miroku and Sango shouted simultaneously as the half demon disappeared from their living room.

Inuyasha hopped into his truck and in one swift motion, started the engine and backed out of the driveway. He dug into his pocket for his phone.

--

"So, then we went to the amusement park. It was so much fun until I rode the roller coasters…" Kagome smiled, taking another sip of her wine.

"You rode a roller coaster?" Houjo asked incredulously. "How much bribery did that take on his part?"

"Bribery? I did it willingly the first time…" Kagome trailed off. "After that, Inuyasha was practically forcing me onto the rides." Houjo laughed.

"I never got you to ride any roller coasters. It's kind of sad."

Kagome shrugged. "I don't know why he has that power over me…" She smiled softly and looked down at her napkin in her lap.

"You love him, huh?" Houjo asked. Kagome looked up at him.

"I can tell. The way you talk about him and his daughter." He sighed.

Kagome opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a ringing coming from inside her purse. "Oh… my phone?" She asked, pulling it out. "Inuyasha just gave me this today, I still have no idea how to answer it." She laughed at herself.

"Here…" Houjo reached over the table and flipped the phone open for her, placing it up to her cheek. Kagome silently thanked him and reached up to hold the phone on her own.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Kagome!" It was Inuyasha's voice. "Kagome, are you with Houjo?"

"Yes, I am…" Kagome said. He sounded absolutely panicked. "What's wrong?"

"Don't say anything anymore unless I tell you to. Tel Houjo that Mayu has a rash and you need to excuse yourself to talk to me about it!"

Kagome sighed. "It's Inuyasha. I guess Mayu has some rash. I'll be right back." She said standing up. Houjo nodded and watched as she walked off in the direction of the bathroom.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Are you in the bathroom yet?"

"Yes…" Kagome said closing the door behind her.

"Houjo murdered you!" Inuyasha shouted. "He's the one that killed you. After you had some miscarriage, he was so upset that he killed you!" Kagome heard the door open behind her and quieted her voice.

"Inuyasha, that's crazy… Houjo wouldn't-"

"Shut up! He did. Don't go back out there. Stay in the bathroom. I'll be there in like two minutes. Just stay put…"

"O…okay…" Kagome stuttered.

"Listen, Kagome. I love you! I can't lose you. Just don't do anything stupid. Stay in there and I'll be there as soon as I can!"

Kagome smiled. "I love you too… " She said as the phone went dead.

"Is precious little Mayu okay?" A familiar voice asked from behind her.

"Houjo?" Kagome asked, spinning around to face him.

"I'm not an idiot, Kagome. Honestly. I'm a little insulted that you thought such a thing would work. I know why you wanted to meet for lunch."

Kagome furrowed her brow. "What are you talking about?"

"You're just some detective looking for evidence who happens to look exactly like Kagome. Inuyasha's your partner… And you just wanted to see me to drill me for questions regarding Kagome's death." Kagome watched in horror as Houjo revealed a handgun in his jacket pocket.

"Houjo, really. That couldn't be farther from the truth!"

"Shut up!" Houjo shouted, pulling the gun out. "I loved Kagome. I really did! I wanted to be with her forever. I didn't mean to kill her. It just happened!"

Kagome's eyes widened in horror. "Houjo… please…"

He was paying her no attention. "I wanted us to all live together like a happy family. Kagome, Shuichi, and me…"

"Shuichi?" Kagome asked.

"My son… the one Kagome killed…" Houjo snarled.

Kagome gasped. 'That's right… I had a miscarriage before I died…' She looked up at Houjo. "Houjo, listen. I'm not a detective. I am Kagome. What happened to Shuichi was an accident! I would have never purposefully killed anyone. Especially my own child! I wanted him just as much as you did." She pleaded. "You have to believe me. I-"

She gasped as a loud bang rang through her ears and a sharp pain shot through her side. She instinctively grabbed her side, gently lowering herself to the ground. She looked down in horror at her blood-stained shirt.

Houjo looked down guiltlessly at the woman before him. "Kagome didn't plead for her life like that. I won't be fooled…" He murmured, climbing up on top of the sinks and escaping out the emergency exit window.

Kagome looked down at her hand. 'So much… blood…' She groaned in pain and crouched down even further, trying to apply more pressure to the wound.

"KAGOME!" She heard the familiar voice shout as the door to the women's restroom was pushed open. "Shit!" She looked up to see Inuyasha rushing toward her.

"Inu…" She started. "I didn't leave… I promise…" She whispered weakly.

Inuyasha couldn't speak. He stared at her in shock. All he saw was blood everywhere. "Where did he shoot you?" He asked. Kagome shifted herself around to show him the wound in her side. Inuyasha gasped. "I'll call an ambulance…" He started as he grabbed his phone.

Kagome shook her head and reached up to stop him. "No. Inuyasha." She winced in pain. He looked down at her horrified.

"Don't you dare give up, Kagome! I told you…"

"I'm not giving up, Inuyasha. But there's nothing a doctor can do to save me." She whimpered. They remained silent, staring at each other. A soft ball of light floated above them.

"Kagome…" The rest of the room seemed to darken as Izayoi's form became a silhouette in front of the expanding ball of light.

"Izayoi-san…" Kagome murmured as Izayoi's face came into their view.

"Mother?" Inuyasha asked, staring at the woman before him.

"Inuyasha? You… you can see me?" She asked, looking at the half demon. Inuyasha nodded. The woman smiled and bowed her head. "It's wonderful to see how grown up you are…" She reached out a hand to touch his cheek, then turned back to the woman across from him.

"Kagome. It's time to go…" She said, sadly.

Kagome shook her head. "Izayoi-san! Please let me stay! I promise to be a better person!" A soft tear trickled from her eye down her cheek. "I can't leave him…" Inuyasha turned to the girl before him. He didn't understand the magnitude of the situation. Is this why Kagome didn't want an ambulance? She was going to try and convince one of the angels to let her stay?

Izayoi gave the girl a pained expression. "I'm sorry, Kagome. I know how this must feel for you two, but the time has come. The portal is calling you back now. I'll let you say goodbye…" She said softly, disappearing from their sight.

Inuyasha looked at Kagome, his eyes searching for answers from her.

Kagome let out a soft sigh. "I'm sorry." Was all she could manage to speak.

Inuyasha scoffed. "You're sorry? What the hell are you sorry for?"

Kagome reached her hands up to his cheeks and softly brushed her lips against his. However, just as Inuyasha responded to the kiss, Kagome pulled away and disappeared from the room.

Inuyasha's breathing became heavy as the reality of Kagome's absence set in. She was gone. She was GONE. Forever.... "Kagome?! KAGOME!" He shouted to the heavens above him, but was met with nothing but silence.

--

_"Kagome?! KAGOME!"_

The sound echoed in her ears as Kagome and Izayoi were sent through the portal. Kagome sniffled, thinking how badly she wanted to stay with him. They hadn't hardly enough time to even be together…

"Are you crying, Kagome?" Izayoi asked.

Kagome nodded pathetically as more tears fell down her face.

"We left you there much too long…"

--

A/N

I feel like a bad person writing this. I really felt so sad while I was killing Kagome… That's a weird thought. This isn't the end. So, don't be sad… yet…

Please review. I love to hear what my readers think.

Love always

Patche


	16. Angel of Mercy

**By: **Patche

**Disclaimer:** Do not own Inuyasha… only this story.

**Angel of Mercy**  
**--**

"Inuyasha, it's been three months. You need to move on…" Miroku said to his friend months after Kagome's departure. They were walking along the sidewalk when the conversation about Inuyasha's love life inevitably came up… just as it always did.

"I'm telling you, Mutsuki is a real knock-out! I mean… if I wasn't married… damn…" Miroku laughed and playfully slapped Inuyasha's back. "I really think you'd like her. She's got long brown hair and these big beautiful brown eyes…"

"I don't want her." Inuyasha said flatly.

"Inuyasha, please. You have to think of Mayu here. Your poor daughter has to watch you mope around day after day and wonder what on earth she could do to help a wounded soul like yourself."

Inuyasha scoffed. "Look, Miroku… When I'm ready to jump back into the dating world that I loved so much before I met Kagome, I will. But for right now, GET OFF MY ASS!" Inuyasha spat dangerously.

"Sango and I just don't want a repeat of what happened after Kikyou. You sat around for years just shutting out everyone except Mayu. You need a girlfriend, Inuyasha… a REAL one."

Inuyasha shook his head. "I'm sure if the tables were turned, Miroku, you'd have no trouble."

"I'm not saying I wouldn't. But I'd do it for my son. That's just what you do when other people rely on your sanity. You have to be stronger than this."

"Well, I'm not." Inuyasha said, walking out of the store.

He didn't wait for Miroku to catch up to him, nor did he return to Sango's house. He just wandered, aimlessly, through the city.

He needed to get away from it all. His daughter, his friends… his life. It was all becoming so problematic.

Why did he have to move on for his daughter's sake? Mayu was old enough to grieve things on her own. His pining over Kagome wasn't influencing her. He knew that much.

Though Mayu had been a complete wreck since Kagome's disappearance. Inuyasha never heard of her friend, Shippou, again. Mayu wouldn't even talk to him anymore. She'd just run to her room after school. Sometimes he'd hear her crying.

One night he felt extremely brave and walked in to comfort her, but found it to be too much.

Inuyasha lowered his head. He had become weak. He'd become too weak to be the father he needed to be for his daughter. He had to be strong to keep her at least somewhat happy.

Inuyasha looked up, noticing his aimless walk had landed him in a graveyard. He let out a soft hmm noticing a woman that vaguely resembled Kagome kneeling beside a tombstone.

He headed in that direction. The woman looked up and was, to his surprise, the spitting image of Kagome… just older.

He glanced at the tombstone before her and read the inscription.

_Higurashi Kagome_

_ 1969 – 1992_

_Beloved daughter_

"Did you know her?" The woman beside the grave asked Inuyasha. "You couldn't have been too old when she died…"

Inuyasha shook his head. "No, she was a friend of my brother's. I might have seen her once…" He lied.

The woman sighed. "Your loss. She was amazing…"

Inuyasha chuckled and nodded. "So I'm told…" He turned to the woman. "Are you her mother?"

The woman nodded. "I am. I haven't been here in a while. But with Houjo finally behind bars, I felt it necessary to come and give my apologies." A tear began to form in the woman's right eye. She scoffed and took her sunglasses from atop her head and placed them over her face.

"Apologize?" Inuyasha asked, kneeling down beside the woman.

"Kagome didn't want Houjo. She always told me she wanted to get through medical school and get a decent job before looking for a husband. She'd only had one boyfriend before him and that didn't last. Kagome was such a work-a-holic. I wanted her to just settle down. I don't know why I forced it so much." The woman's voice cracked. "When she found out she was pregnant, I told her to get engaged immediately… If only I hadn't done that. If only I'd let her become the independent woman she was so naturally." She traced over the lettering of the tombstone. "I wouldn't be here right now."

Inuyasha sighed. "It's really not your fault, you know."

The woman turned in Inuyasha's direction.

"I'm sure that when people see how the story unfolded, they don't instantly blame you for her death. How were you supposed to know Houjo would kill her? Kagome didn't even know Houjo would kill her…"

The woman sighed and nodded her head. "I guess so…" She sniffled. "What is your name?" She asked him.

"It's Inuyasha." He stated.

"Inuyasha… Kagome would have loved to meet you." Inuyasha cracked a smile at this.

"I'm sure she would've."

--

It had been three months since Kagome's return to the clouds above. Things hadn't changed, but she had. She didn't care to gossip with Ayame and Rin anymore. She didn't even hang out on top of her favorite cloud anymore. She felt listless… and weak. She wanted nothing more than to run into Inuyasha's arms again.

But she knew that wasn't going to happen… at least not for a long, long time.

Sighing, Kagome gently reached a hand down to grace the portal. This had been her new home. When she wasn't watching over Mayu, she just sat by the portal. It made her feel closer to earth.

She looked over as Izayoi sat beside her, also staring into the portal.

"Kagome, I'm not going to ask you what's wrong or state the obvious fact that you've been moping around for three months and just staring into this portal. I know already know why."

Kagome blinked, facing the warped clouds before her.

"Kagome, I know how you feel and I know how Inuyasha feels. I've been right where you both are… When InuTaisho died, I felt lost and afraid. I didn't want to eat or sleep… or even pay attention to my newborn son. It was disgusting, really, how pitiful I'd become." Izayoi sighed and placed a hand over Kagome's. "I know this is hard on you."

Kagome scoffed. "It's not hard on me, Izayoi-san… It's just flat-out impossible to deal with. I can't. I can't bring myself to just stop thinking about him…" She turned to Izayoi, tears brimming in her eyes. "And maybe it wasn't so difficult before I fell to Earth because they didn't know I existed. But… knowing that they're suffering just as much as I am makes it so unfair!" She let one tear fall down her cheek.

Izayoi reached up to wipe it from her face before she spoke. "I still don't understand how it is you can cry, Kagome… You're not human anymore." Izayoi sat back on her heels. "Anyway, I know. That is exactly how I felt. It makes things a little sadder to know my son has to go through the same thing I did so long ago."

Kagome nodded, sniffling.

"That was InuTaisho's feeling when he sent Kagura back…"

Kagome snapped her head up to the woman beside her. "Kagura?"

Izayoi nodded. "Much like you, Kagura had fallen through the portal accidentally and met Sesshoumaru. Though it took them a long time to do so, they did fall for each other. But Kagura died and had to come back…"

'So, that's what she meant by her 'paranormal experiences' Kagome thought.

"InuTaisho is a generous man, Kagome. He didn't wish for his son to feel the same pain that he had. So, he worked a miracle and sent Kagura back through the portal to live out the rest of a normal human life with Sesshoumaru…"

Kagome felt chills run down her body. Her heart began to race uncontrollably.

"What are you saying, Izayoi-san?" She asked, gulping.

Izayoi turned to Kagome and smiled. "That my son loves you very much and is a mess without you…" She stood and walked behind Kagome, leaning down to whisper in her ear.

"So, jump, Kagome."  
--

"Listen Mayu, I know I've been really distant lately…" Inuyasha started as they reached the farmer's market. "I know it's been hard on you… Losing Kagome and everything."

Mayu shook her head and shot him a weak smile. "It's okay, Daddy. You love her, just like I do."

Inuyasha smiled. "Well, come on. We have to get in there before this place closes!" Inuyasha shouted, noticing the setting sun.

Mayu gasped. "What do we need?"

"We need… cucumbers… and carrots…" Inuyasha said, checking his list.

"That's it? We couldn't have just gone to the grocery store?"

Inuyasha shook his head, smiling. "My instincts told me we would find the greatest cucumbers and carrots in this very place."

Mayu rolled her eyes. "You're so weird."

Inuyasha's ears flattened. "I am not!" He retorted, making his way to the cucumber bin.

"I'll go get the carrots…" Mayu said, wandering off.

"Wait, Mayu!" Inuyasha shouted as she disappeared into the crowd. "Mayu!" He abandoned the cucumber bin and went off in search of his daughter.

"MAAAAYUUU!" He shouted, looking for her tiny form among the herd of people that had congregated at the farmer's market just before close.

It was hopeless. There were far too many people here. Mayu was such a tiny girl. He'd never find her in time. Growling to himself, Inuyasha began running, pushing through people in the general direction he'd seen Mayu run off in. Continuously calling out her name, Inuyasha continued the search for his little girl.

"Excuse me, sir…" He heard a voice behind him. Turning around, Inuyasha met with the face… the face that seemed forever lodged in the background of his mind.

The woman smiled and moved back to reveal his daughter attached to her hand.

"Daddy! I found Kagome!" Mayu said smiling. Inuyasha breathed out, looking up at the woman again, inspecting her.

She wore a long white gown and had her ebony hair tied back in a low, wavy ponytail. She looked positively radiant and almost more angelic than ever before.

"It is you…" He gasped. Kagome smiled and ran to embrace him. Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her, burying his nose in the crook of her neck.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, not daring to pull away from her.

"I came back." She pulled away just enough to face him as she spoke. "Your mother… she controls everything and your father sent Kagura down to be with Sesshoumaru so I was sent down to be with you…"

Inuyasha laughed. "Okay, whatever…" He said, pulling her in for a kiss.

Mayu snickered watching the two lock lips.

"I love you, Inuyasha." Kagome said smiling as they pulled away from each other. She felt the beginning of a tear building up in the corner of her eye.

"I love you so much, Kagome…" Inuyasha chuckled, wiping the baby tear from her eye and kissing her face all over before finally landing his lips on hers… just as he did every night for the rest of his life…

--

_Fin_

--

A/N

Aww… it's over… I don't know why. I hurriedly wrote the last like eight chapters of this story, and now I'm so reluctant to actually put this chapter up.

First of all, the whole break thing won't be happening again. That made everything a big freaking mess. I guess it's not hard to notice my writing style has changed in the past year. Also, when I first wrote this story I had like 40-something chapters planned…Needless to say, during my long break I forgot all those plans and had to bring in a new one. It's nice to know, though, that since chapter seven, no new twists have been added to the new plan… So, I am capable of keeping stories organized. This makes me very hopeful for my next fic.

Ooooh yes! Speaking of… I do have a new fic that I plan on finishing up the first chapter of later tonight/tomorrow ish… it should be up within the next couple days. I'm having issues summarizing it so far, but I'll just kind of give you all a rather scattered, exclusive sneak peak (thanks to my inability to make up an actually summary at the moment. Haha. Everyone wins!)

However, it is an AU fic, InuKag (what else?) rated T

When the queen bee of high school applies at Taisho Pizzeria, Inuyasha's world is turned completely upside down. Being the loner, outsider, outcast he spent the greater portion of his adolescence becoming, he and his girlfriend both despise the idea of Higurashi Kagome working for his brother… alongside HIM.

However, as her time in the pizzeria increases and she and Inuyasha become closer friends, he discovers that even the queen bee has troubles all her own… just like everyone else.

Okay… now let me say that this story will be based on several things and if you're familiar with any of them, then… you'll understand the summary better than I could write it: Fruits Basket (VERY much so like Fruits Basket, actually), Love Hina, Keith (it's a movie with Jesse McCartney… amazing man… basically a version of A Walk To Remember, only switching the sexes and making a lot less sense), MY life (Most of the inspiration was drawn from this), and Inuyasha… obviously…

So, I hope you all will read it. This has to be the world's longest Author's Note ever.

Ahem… without further ado, this does mark the end of Kishoubu… for anyone wondering Kishoubu is Japanese for Miracle.

I'd like to thank every single one of my readers. You guys are the most loyal people I've ever known. And to put up with my scattered thoughts and horribly rushed through chapters… you guys deserve kudos and a big hug and major apology from me. I'm sorry I wrote this so scatteredly. I feel like if only I could go back and restart, it'd be a great story. But I have no will-power to do such a thing.

Love always

Patche


	17. Epilogue

**By: **Patche

**Disclaimer:** Do not own Inuyasha… only this story.

**Epilogue**  
**--**

_10 Years Later…_

"YES!" Mayu shouted cheerfully throughout the hallway of her school. "Yes, yes yes!"

"What is it, Mayu-chan?" A girl with short brown hair approached the overly-excited woman-child.

"I got in! I made it into high school!" She cheered, wrapping the girl in her arms. "Did you make it into Shikon High too, Sara-chan?"

The girl in Mayu's arms smiled. "Yes, I did."

Mayu screamed with delight. "We're going to the same high school! AHH!"

"Geez… could you two be any louder?" The girls separated themselves from each other as a familiar red-haired boy approached them.

"Shippou-kun, we're going to the same high school. It's exciting!" Sara shouted.

Shippou turned to Mayu. "You got in?" Mayu nodded, beaming.

"Yes, I did!" She said, running up and hugging Shippou. He felt his cheeks warm up with the contact.

"Well, that's great. We'll all be going to the same school." He murmured as Mayu pulled away from him.

"I have to go home and tell my mom and dad! They'll be so excited!" Mayu said cheerfully as she ran out the doors of the school.

"So, when were you going to ask her out, Shippou?" Sara asked, turning to the blushing boy beside her.

"Uh… I wasn't planning on it…" He said, scratching the back of his neck.

Sara scoffed. "Right… I say you get to it. I heard the boys over at Shikon are to die for." Shippou shot Sara a scowl as she walked off.

--

"DADDY!" Mayu shouted running in the door.

"Mayu?" She heard Kagome call. "Mayu, what's wrong?"

Mayu ran up to her. "Where's Daddy? I have to give you guys some news!" She said breathlessly.

Kagome's eyes widened. "What kind of news?" She asked, fearing it could be bad.

Mayu shook her head. "It's amazing news! I ran all the way here to tell you guys…"

Kagome smiled. "Well, he ran to the store for a bit, but he should be back soon. What is this news, Mayu?"

Mayu shook her head and sat down on the couch a few feet away from the door. "You'll have to wait for him to come. I'm telling you guys together."

Kagome scoffed and sat down beside the girl. "Does it have to do with Shippou?"

Mayu tilted her head to the side. "I guess in a way, yes…"

Kagome let out a 'hmm'. "Did Shippou ask you out?"

Mayu blushed. "Oh gosh, no. Nothing like that."

Kagome chuckled at Mayu's response. "Did he ask someone else out?"

Mayu furrowed her brows while looking at Kagome. "That wouldn't be good news, Mama…"

Kagome laughed. "Well, then what does it have to do with Shippou?" She asked as the front door opened to reveal the silver haired, yellow eyed half demon the two women loved.

"DADDY!" Mayu shouted springing up from the couch.

"What?" He asked, freezing in his place.

Kagome laughed. "Mayu has some news for us…"

"Oh God…" Inuyasha started, leaning against the wall.

"It's good news." Mayu said flatly.

Inuyasha straightened himself and smiled, picking up his grocery bag and walking into the kitchen, kissing Kagome as he passed the couch.

"What is this good news?" He asked from the kitchen.

"I got into Shikon!" Mayu exclaimed happily. "I'm so excited! Sara and Shippou got in too. We'll all be together!"

Kagome beamed and stood up to walk over to the girl before her. "Mayu, that's great!" She said wrapping her arms around the girl. "I'm so proud of you!"

Mayu smiled. "Thanks, Mama!"

Inuyasha joined in, hugging the two of them together. "I knew you'd make it in, pumpkin." He said, pulling away.

Mayu beamed as a loud knocking was heard from the front door.

"Who's that?" Mayu asked looking at Kagome and Inuyasha.

Inuyasha shrugged. "I don't know. Did you invite someone over?" He asked, looking at Kagome who just shook her head.

Mayu walked up to the door and opened it to reveal the red-headed boy she'd seen earlier in school.

"Shippou-kun…" She said, gasping.

"Mayu… I need to talk to you…" Shippou said slowly.

Kagome smiled and looked up at Inuyasha. She reached down and grabbed his hand, leading him off to their bedroom.

"Hey wait, wench! What are you doing?!" Inuyasha shouted on his way down the hall.

Mayu laughed watching them leave, then turned back to Shippou, whose serious face hadn't faltered.

"What is it, Shipp-" Shippou's lips came crashing down on her own, silencing her. Mayu felt her eyes growing wide with the shock of what was happening. She quickly responded, however, wrapping one arm around his neck and placing her free hand on his cheek. She closed her eyes as she deepened the kiss, pulling him inside from the door.

Shippou gasped, pulling away from her.

"What?" Mayu asked looking at him. Her eyes shook with confusion.

Shippou smirked. "I'm really glad your mom took Inuyasha away for that one…" He murmured.

Mayu giggled. "Yeah, me too…"

"I HEARD THAT! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, SHIPPOU?! AGH KAGOME! LET ME GO!"

Mayu grimaced. "Half demon… hears everything…" Mayu reminded herself.

Shippou laughed. "Anyway, Mayu… I came to ask you something…" Mayu looked up at the kitsune, giving him her attention. "It's just… I mean we've been friends forever, you know? And I love you like a friend. You're the coolest person I know and we always have fun together… But…" he averted his gaze, thinking of more to say. "I really kind of wanted to be more than that…"

"Shippou…" Mayu started.

"So, I was going to ask you if maybe you'd come to the movies with me on Friday as… not friends…" He finished, awkwardly.

Mayu laughed. "After a kiss like that, of course I would!"

"KISS?! SHIPPOU! You're dead when I get out there… DEAD! YOU HEAR ME?!"

Shippou giggled and kissed Mayu on the lips softly before rushing out the door.

"I gotta go… I'll see you on Friday." He said smiling. Mayu beamed and waved to him as he left the house.

"ARGH!" Inuyasha shouted, finally escaping from his room.

"Dad… you scared him off…" Mayu said flatly as Inuyasha approached her, looking for Shippou.

"Keh! Good thing… that dumb kid needs to learn his boundaries…" Mayu rolled her eyes and walked off to her room.

Kagome raised her eyebrow expectantly as she watched the exchange between Inuyasha and his daughter. She crossed her arms over her chest as he walked back in her direction.

"Don't give me that look…" He grumbled, leaning on the wall across from her.

"You need to chill out…" Kagome said sternly.

"What? That kid's been panting after her since she was six years old!"

"Exactly… He waited this long. Let them have their fun…" Kagome said smiling.

"Fun?" Inuyasha asked.

"Right, just like we do…" She smiled, pulling him in for a quick kiss.

Inuyasha's eyes widened in horror. Kagome laughed and ran off into their bedroom.

--

_NOW Fin_

--

A/N

Ok… now it's over. I felt bad for ending it the way I did… it was rushed, so I hope this will help. Thanks for reading. I figured out a title for the next fic (just noticed I didn't add it to my AN in the last chapter) It shall be called "I Stole Your Soul", but really had hardly anything to do with the story… other than it's a line in a Lydia song I think fits the story the best.

Love always

Patche


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